Monday night’s action at the World Matchplay gets underway with Damon Heta squaring off against Ryan Searle.

Heta performed well here last year, reaching the quarter-final stage, before losing out narrowly to Luke Humphries. The former World Cup winner claimed the Players Championship Four title in Leicester earlier this year and also made headlines by knocking Luke Littler out at the quarter-final stage of this year’s UK Open.

As for Searle, he also made it to the last-eight of last year’s World Matchplay, where he came up short against eventual runner-up Jonny Clayton. Like Heta, Searle has also picked up a Players Championship title this year, beating good friend Gary Anderson 8-7 in a thrilling final back in February.

It’s a mighty tough encounter to call and that is reflected in the match odds. Two of the last four meetings between the pair have ended 6-5 either way and another final leg decider may be needed to separate the duo in Blackpool. With that in mind, siding with over 16.5 legs looks the most sensible solution for Monday night’s curtain-raiser.

Michael Smith meets Gary Anderson on Monday night in one of the most eagerly-anticipated first round match-ups at this year’s World Matchplay. Fresh off the back of World Cup success with England, ‘The Bully Boy’ will be looking to add a maiden World Matchplay crown to his trophy cabinet, while ‘The Flying Scotsman’ will be aiming to lift the Phil Taylor trophy for a second time, having done so previously in 2018.

With the likelihood of the Winter Gardens crowd being treated to a relentless barrage of 180s from the pair, the betting value could lie with Smith to deliver over 5.5 maximums. The St Helens star showcased during this year’s Premier League that he remains one of the sport’s serial 180 hitters, firing in 96 across his 32 outings, an impressive average of three per-match given the short game format. On top of this, only seven players on the PDC circuit have hit more 180’s than Smith (445) across the last 12 months.

The market is clearly expecting an avalanche of 180’s from two of the sport’s biggest hitters on Monday night, and Smith is more than capable of contributing his fair share of maximums.

The standout tie in the opening round of the 2024 World Matchplay takes place on Monday night, as Michael van Gerwen locks horns with Luke Littler. This fixture wouldn’t have looked out of place in next Sunday’s final but the draw means one of these two heavyweights are guaranteed to fall at the first hurdle.

Luke Littler is priced up as the odds-on favourite but siding with the teenage sensation to hit the most 180’s looks the more attractive option. Only Luke Humphries (707) has hit more 180’s than ‘The Nuke’ over the last year of action, with Littler landing a whopping 697 maximums across that period. During his all-conquering debut Premier League campaign, Littler delivered a competition-high 114 maximums.

This is a stark contrast to van Gerwen, whose 180 tally during this year’s Premier League sat at 76. While that return isn’t to be sniffed at either, MVG does have a habit of switching to treble 19, which only adds to the appeal of backing Littler to hit the most 180’s. Littler has admitted he loves playing in front of live crowds and he will be desperate to put on a show in his World Matchplay debut.

The final first-round match to be played in this year’s World Matchplay sees Chris Dobey go up against Ritchie Edhouse. Dobey claimed his first major PDC title by winning the 2023 Masters and he was subsequently awarded a place in last year’s Premier League. A deep run to the quarter-final stages of the 2024 World Darts Championship was further evidence that ‘Hollywood’ is on an upward curve.

Edhouse, meanwhile, will be one of five debutants in this year’s 32-player field and he enters this year’s Matchplay as the lowest-ranked player in the competition. ‘The Madhouse’ has been with the PDC for almost a decade but he has made a bit of a splash on both the floor and at Euro Tours since the turn of year, with his upturn in form helping him stamp his ticket to Blackpool for the first time.

While Edhouse will be out to ruffle a few feathers at the Winter Gardens, a round one clash with Dobey looks a daunting prospect. ‘Hollywood’ has taken top honours from the previous two meetings between the duo and he can march on to the next round by making it a hat-trick of wins over Edhouse on Monday night.