The third game from Monday afternoon’s session will see Alan Soutar come up against Kai Gottardt. After failing to qualify for last year’s showpiece, Soutar has plotted his way back to the Alexandra Palace. As for Gottardt, he will make his World Darts Championship debut on Monday after he emerged victorious from the final of the Europe Super League in November.

Soutar is the firm favourite heading into this clash and the Scotsman should make no mistake on Monday afternoon. The 46-year-old firefighter has plenty of major TV experience, particularly at Ally Pally. ‘Soots’ has exceeded expectations in each of his last two appearances on the world stage, reaching the round of 16 on both occasions. He has also enjoyed deep runs in both the UK Open and the Grand Slam of Darts in recent years.

While Soutar cannot afford to underestimate Gottardt, he should be too streetwise for the German newcomer, who is one of the lowest-ranked players in the competition. Soutar has averaged a very steady 91.56 this year and a replication of that here should see him ease himself into the tournament with a victory.

Niels Zonneveld and Robert Owen meet in the opening game of the evening on Monday night. Dutchman Zonneveld will be featuring at the World Championship for the fourth time, while Welshman Owen is back at the Ally Pally for a second appearance.

This clash could be closer than the pre-match odds suggest, however Zonneveld should have enough in his locker to get the job done. ‘Triple Z’ tasted victory on this stage for the first time 12 months ago, defeating Darren Webster 3-1. The 26-year-old has since produced a number of eye-catching displays throughout 2024, particularly in the months leading up to this year’s World Darts Championship.

Zonneveld featured in the semi-finals of a European Tour event for the first time ever as recently as October. The Dutchman then went on to dispatch both William O’Connor and Nathan Aspinall during last month’s Players Championship Finals. Thus, he should arrive at the Ally Pally in confident mood.

In contrast, Owen’s form doesn’t make for great reading ahead of his return to the world stage. ‘Stack Attack’ has lost 6 of his last 8 matches, one of which was a 6-2 loss to latest opponent Zonneveld.

Connor Scutt should hit the ground running with a win over Ben Robb on Monday night. ‘The Sniper’ could be many observers’ dark horse for the 2025 World Championship. Scutt certainly has the potential to hurt anyone on his day. The 28-year-old has enjoyed several deep runs in Players Championship events this year, not to mention he made it to the last-eight at the Players Championship Finals at the tail end of November.

That doesn’t augur well for New Zealand arrowsmith Robb, who has fallen at the first hurdle in each of his previous 3 appearances at the Ally Pally.

With Scutt too short to side with as a single, instead look to him to win alongside hitting the most 180s. The Londoner is one of the most lethal 180 hitters on the planet. In fact, only five other players have crashed in more maximums than Scutt this calendar year. He won the 180 battle in 2 of his 3 victories in Minehead last month, not to mention he ‘out-maxed’ Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-5 when being eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

Cameron Menzies will look to cap off an impressive year by making a deep run at the 2025 World Darts Championship. The Scottish ace has enjoyed his most fruitful year in the PDC to date. He captured his first-ever ranking title in October and he has since gone on to reach the last-eight of the Grand Slam of Darts.

While Menzies’ round one clash with Leonard Gates at this year’s World Darts Championship is fraught with danger, the Scotsman’s heavy scoring could prove decisive. As such, backing Menzies to win and to the most 180s looks the most attractive angle of attack here. Menzies has been one of the most frequent maximum hitters on the PDC tour this year, racking up 448 thus far. That return has ‘Cammy’ ranked an impressive 12th on the 180 leaderboard since the start of the year.

Gates, on the other hand, is not renowned for being a serial 180 hitter, evidenced by the fact that he has hit 123 maximums this year, a tally that has him ranked 175th for that particular statistic.