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World Darts Championship 2025 Permutations
The return of the PDC World Darts Championship is approaching, and our darts expert has made a detailed rundown of the key permutations for this year’s draw.
For additional coverage in advance of Friday’s first Bull Up, make sure to check out the rest of our PDC World Darts Championship Outright Betting Tips & Predictions 2025 and PDC World Darts Championship Underdog Betting Tips & Predictions 2025.
Our darts expert enjoyed an excellent 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, yielding over 20 units worth of profit. Had you backed all our tips at the tournament with £10, you’d have ended it with over £200 in profit – we also landed a three-fold PDC World Darts Championship outright at odds of 14/1.
🏴 Luke Littler
All eyes will be on pre-tournament favourite Luke Littler at this year’s World Darts Championship. ‘The Nuke’ sensationally stormed to last year’s final only to be denied a fairytale victory by Luke Humphries.
Housed in quarter 2, it’s difficult to envisage Littler falling at any hurdle until at least the semi-final stage. He will kick off his campaign against either Ryan Meikle or Fallon Sherrock before potentially clashing with Ritchie Edhouse and then Danny Noppert – two players he defeated with room to spare at the recent Player Championships Finals.
While a probable quarter-final clash with Rob Cross would be a big obstacle to overcome, Littler dispatched ‘Voltage’ en route to last year’s final. A box-office semi-showdown thereafter with Luke Humphries is where Littler could potentially come unstuck.
With Littler expected to reach the latter stages, he also looks well-placed to hit the most tournament 180s at this year’s showpiece.
🏴 Luke Humphries
Luke Humphries will look to become the fourth-ever player to successfully defend the World Darts Championship. ‘Cool Hand Luke’ is the second favourite behind Luke Littler in the outright betting.
The world number one will get his title defence up and running against either Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito. Things would get a little tougher thereafter as Humphries would likely run into darting legends Raymond van Barneveld and then James Wade. If Humphries can plot his way past the aforementioned pair, he could meet Mike De Decker in a blockbuster rematch of their recent World Grand Prix final.
Should Humphries make it to the semi-final, he could be locking horns with Luke Littler. Unlike 12 months ago, last year’s finalists are on the same side of the draw. Given how tough Humphries’ route looks, the smart wager could be to side with him to come through his quarter.
🇳🇱 Michael van Gerwen
Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen will get his latest quest for glory up and running against either James Hurrell or Jim Long. ‘MVG’ should march on from there to face Brendan Dolan. While ‘The History Maker’ shocked the darting world to reach the quarter-final stage last year, it would be a huge upset if he were to overcome van Gerwen in round three.
Thereafter, ‘Mighty Mike’ and Gary Anderson could renew their thrilling rivalry in the round of 16. With the pair on the opposite side of the draw to that of both Humphries and Littler, the winner of that potential showdown would be well-placed to reach the grand finale.
If van Gerwen can get the better of Anderson, he would then have to be fancied to see off the likes of Dimitri Van den Bergh and Michael Smith to reach what would be a seventh world final.
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🏴 Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price has endured an underwhelming 2024 by his high standards. Thus, it wouldn’t be a major shock if he were to be one of the first big names to crash out early at the Ally Pally.
One crumb of comfort for Price is that he has been placed in quarter three of this year’s World Darts Championship, which would appear to be the most open of the four. Having said that, the winner of Keane Barry v Kim Huybrechts will represent an awkward opener for the Welshman. Price could then go on to cross paths with the highly-rated Wessel Nijman before coming up against Daryl Gurney or compatriot Jonny Clayton.
Things would get even trickier from that juncture onwards as a quarter-final clash with either Chris Dobey or Michael Smith could be on the horizon, ahead of a likely semi-final showdown with either Gary Anderson or Michael van Gerwen.
🏴 Michael Smith
Two years on from conquering the world, Michael Smith will begin his campaign against either Kevin Doets or Noa-Lynn van Leuven. The ‘Bully Boy’ should ease his way into the tournament with a victory before most likely coming up against Krzysztof Ratajski in round 3.
Should Smith put the Polish Eagle to the sword, he would probably have to get past the likes of Chris Dobey and then Gerwyn Price to secure a semi-final berth, where one of Gary Anderson or Michael van Gerwen could be waiting in the wings.
While Smith reaching another final is certainly within the realms of possibility, he currently looks a shadow of the figure who lifted the trophy just 24 months ago. He was sent packing in empathic fashion at the round of 16 stage by the aforementioned Dobey last year and there is plenty of scope for history to repeat itself in 2024.
We’ve got a vast range of Darts Predictions on-site, as well as Darts Accumulator Tips for every major tournament. Our Free Betting Offers can provide further ammunition ahead of the first bullseye as you follow our Darts Betting Tips & Predictions.
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* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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