Danny Noppert and Ryan Joyce get the action underway at the Alexandra Palace on Saturday night. ‘Relentless’ set up this tie with number 13 seed Noppert following a 3-1 win over Darius Labanauskas in round 1.

Joyce lost the 180 battle when seeing off the Lithuanian in the 1st round and a repeat is expected in round 2 against Noppert. ‘The Freeze’ has been a frequent 180-hitter throughout 2024, delivering a creditable 452 maximums, a tally topped by only 10 other players in the PDC.

The Dutchman delivered the most maximums in 3 of his 4 matches at the recent Grand Slam of Darts and he also ‘outmaxed’ his opponent in 1 of his 2 wins at last month’s Players Championship Finals.

As for Joyce, he is nowhere near as prolific when it comes to filling up the treble 20 bed. The Newcastle arrowsmith has 215 maximums to his name this year so far. He failed to land more 180s than his foe in each of his 4 games at the Grand Slam and that was also the case in 3 of his 4 outings at the Players Championship Finals at the tail end of last month.

Luke Littler will begin his latest quest for World Darts Championship glory when he meets Ryan Meikle in round 2 on Saturday night. The teenage phenomenon will look to go one better this year and he should hit the ground running by beating ‘The Barber’. That view is reflected in the pre-match betting, with Littler a heavy odds-on favourite in the majority of markets here. With that in mind, an alternative is to back Littler to average north of 101.5.

The Warrington wonderkid averaged a whopping 106.12 in his opening assignment on the world stage last year and he will be keen to replicate that effort with a view to making an early statement of intent to the rest of the field.

While ‘The Nuke’ has averaged 99.26 across 2024 thus far, a deeper dig shows that figure has been on the rise in the lead-up to this year’s festive showpiece. Littler comfortably averaged over 101.5 in each of his 7 victories en route to winning the Grand Slam of Darts last month. He also posted an average in excess of 101.5 in all but 1 of his 6 outings at the recent Players Championship Finals.

Damon Heta and Connor Scutt will square off in an intriguing-looking 2nd round tie on Saturday night. ‘The Sniper’ produced 1 of the standout performances of this year’s showpiece to date with a resounding 3-0 win over Ben Robb in round 1. Scutt averaged a shade under 102 and fired in 4 180s for good measure.

The Londoner is 1 of the most lethal 180-hitters on the PDC circuit and he looks well placed to land a minimum of 1 maximum in each set of his 2nd round clash with Australian number 1, Damon Heta. Scutt produced a 180 in each set of the game when seeing off Robb in round 1, including 2 maximums in the 3rd and final set. His 180 exploits this year has him rubbing shoulders with the elite, with only 5 other players boasting a higher maximum return than Scutt in 2024 thus far.

The 28-year-old will likely have the backing of what will be a boisterous Ally Pally crowd on Saturday night and he is more than capable of rewarding them with a 180 in each set of this 2nd round tie.