- The 57-year-old is making final competitive appearance before his retirement
- Defending champ Michael van Gerwen is favourite to lift Sid Waddell Trophy
- The world No 1 will face fellow Dutchman Christian Kist in the first round
Fourteen-time champion Phil Taylor will face fellow Englishman Chris Dobey in the first round of his last William Hill PDC World Darts Championship.
World No 1 and defending champion Michael van Gerwen is favourite to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the third time at Alexandra Palace but the 57-year-old Taylor will be hoping to defy the odds in his final competitive appearance before his retirement.
Van Gerwen will face fellow Dutchman and former BDO champion Christian Kist in the first round, with Scotland’s two-time champion Gary Anderson taking on Jeff Smith or Luke Humphries.
Phil Taylor will face Chris Dobey in the first round at PDC World Darts Championship
Former winner Adrian Lewis will play either Alexsandr Oreshkin or Kevin Munch, with 2007 champion Raymond van Barneveld up against Richard North and Peter Wright taking on Brazil’s Diogo Portela.
The 72-man event gets under way on December 14, with the final taking place on January 1 when a record first prize of £400,000 will be up for grabs.