2024 PDC World Darts Championship semi-final predictions and betting tips: Cross to end wonderkid's Ally Pally run

Paddy Power are offering new customers £40 in free bets for the World Darts Championship. You can grab your free bet here. 

We’ve included further instructions on how to grab your offer later on in this article.

Where to watch the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship

Every day of the Alexandra Palace spectacular is live on Sky Sports Arena.

Bet on the World Darts Championship here and get £40 in free bets from Paddy Power

Best bets

Rob Cross to beat Luke Littler
1pt 13-10 Coral, Hills, Ladbrokes

Luke Humphries -3.5 sets v Scott Williams
1pt Evs bet365

Advised outright pre-tournament

Rob Cross to win 2024 PDC World Darts Championship
1pt each-way 16-1 general

2024 PDC World Darts Championship semi-final predictions

Comeback kid Rob Cross is the latest to take on wunderkind Luke Littler in what promises to be a Paddy Power World Darts Championship semi-final for the ages.

And Cross, the 2018 champion, eighth seed, four-time major champ, winner of four titles on the 2023 big boys' tour and out of jail in the quarter-finals, is the outsider.

You really couldn't make up the impact of Littler, the 16-year-old who is simply demolishing senior players on this fairytale ride to the last four.

Christian Kist was thrashed 3-0, Andrew Gilding 3-1, Matt Campbell 4-1, Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 and now Brendan Dolan, who evaporated under a barrage of big scores and flawless finishing in a 5-1 quarter-final romp.

Great players are wilting against Littler and the pre-tournament 66-1 shot, who was just 9-4 for the title after defeating last-eight opponent Dolan, is looking utterly fearless.

Cross, so the logic goes, won't wilt because he rarely does. If he had a wilting streak in him then surely we would have seen it in his last-eight showdown with Chris Dobey when he fell 4-0 behind and was being completely outclassed.

An almost unbelievable hour later and it was Cross celebrating a 5-4 win after one of the most astonishing turnarounds Alexandra Palace has ever witnessed.

Voltage's finishing against Dobey was sublime – 57 per cent which, over nine sets, is phenomenal.

We know he's got the scoring power and we know he's got the experience. Littler hasn't felt any pressure over the last fortnight because nobody has been capable of putting him under any.

However, Cross is expected to do just that and looks the value to go through to the final.

It has taken a while for the Luke Humphries that has dominated the darting season to show up at Alexandra Palace, but the best version of Cool Hand Luke took to the stage in a 5-1 quarter-final hammering of Dave Chisnall. 

The Newbury thrower averaged 103.5 in that last-eight tie and it appears that the Players Championship Finals, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam champion is ready to add a first World Championship to this season's haul. 

Scott Williams pulled off a huge upset to stun Michael van Gerwen on Monday night and that followed excellent wins over Damon Heta, Martin Schindler and Danny Noppert. 

However, Shaggy's tournament peak of 96.32 won't be enough to live with a peak Humphries and this could be where the run ends for the Boston battler. 

Cool Hand Luke can be backed at even-money giving Williams a 3.5-set start in this best-of-11 contest and that looks worth a wager.  

Grab a £40 Paddy Power free bet on the 2023 World Darts Championship

We’ve already mentioned that Paddy Power are offering a £40 free bet for the World Darts Championship.

Well, you can follow these simple steps outlined below to grab your £40 free bet to place on the on the World Darts Championship. It's fast, secure and straightforward.

• Head over to Paddy Power through this link and click the Join button on their homepage
• Create your username and password
• Make a deposit of £10 or more using a card & place a bet on a sportsbook market with odds of 1-2 or greater
• You will be rewarded with £40 of free bet tokens added to your balance

Paddy Power World Darts Championship betting sign-up offer: terms and conditions

It's worth taking a few minutes to read through the terms and conditions associated with the new player promotion before signing up. Doing so will help you get a better grasp of the details of the Paddy Power betting offer and what's expected of you as a new player.

• New UK & ROI customers only
• Minimum deposit £10 bet at minimum odds of 1-2 to qualify 
• Get £40 in free bets, valid for 30 days
• SMS verification required
• Bets placed on Greyhound racing markets are excluded
• Only deposits via cards will qualify

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.