Josh Rock is a phenomenal 180 hitter and this is a game that could go quite deep.

Rock is only a marginal favourite to win (1.73) and Woodhouse has been on good form on the Pro Tour this year, actually sitting top in the order of merit.

Rock reached the semi final of the World Matchplay last year and is still searching for that first big major win that many believe he is capable of given his talent. 

He’s averaging 0.35 180s per leg over the last year and I would expect this game to have at least 16 legs given the form of Woodhouse over recent months which would give Rock 5.6 180s if he matched his output over the last 12 months on the maximum count.

This is a real banana skin for Stephen Bunting against a player who has improved steadily over the last year and has reached the quarter finals or further in three Euro Tours this year, going on to the semi finals on two occasions.

Now these Euro Tour events are a bit diluted as the top players don’t really compete in them anymore to try and manage their busy schedules, but it still shows decent consistency from Zonneveld who also reached the Last 32 of the World Championships towards the end of last year.

I can see this being a bit of an awkward game for Bunting, but he crucially does have a big finish in him to carry him over the line. These two have played twice this year, with Bunting winning both games narrowly 6-5 and 6-4. 

Bunting very rarely is able to steamroll opponents in the early stages of these big major tournaments, so I can see Zonneveld just sticking with him throughout this one and forcing a big checkout from the bullet - something which happened the last time these two met.

Another factor with Bunting is how rehearsed he can be at the back end of legs. He likes setting up 100 and 121 finishes in particular, as well as utilising the bull -  which is something to keep an eye on.

Nathan Aspinall is one of my favourite darts players, though bias aside he should have enough to come out on top in this one against a player in Joe Cullen who has been on the decline for some time.

Aspinall has been putting the work in on the Pro Tour and Euro Tour to try and get back amongst the elite after missing out on a place in the Premier League for the most recent campaign. 

He has won the Matchplay before, winning the trophy back in 2023 and will be looking to get back close to those levels here.

Aspinall has won 11 of his 17 lifetime matches against Joe Cullen (64.71%), including the most recent meeting between the pair last year which Aspinall managed to win 6-1.

Luke Littler is quite simply the best 180 hitter in darts, and statistically the most likely player to hit maximums that we’ve ever seen in the sport.

Littler really enjoys these longer format matches, but it doesn’t always go to plan for him in the early stages of the tournament. 

Most players know that the only time you’re really going to be able to stop Littler is to catch him out in these early rounds because he only gets stronger as the tournament goes on - so there is a slight chance that Springer makes more of a game of this than the odds suggest. 

Littler steamrolled his way to winning the World Matchplay last year, unsurprisingly hitting more 180s than any other player. 

He’s averaging 0.43 180s per leg over the last year, which is just obscene for this level and pressure. This rate actually increases slightly when you look at his performances in major tournaments to just shy of 0.50 180s per leg.