Masters predictions and darts betting tips: Voltage looks set to electrify the Marshall Arena

Where to watch the Masters

The event will be broadcast on ITV4, 7pm Friday, 12.45pm & 7pm Saturday, 12.45pm & 7pm Sunday

Best bets

Rob Cross
2pts each-way 12-1 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Ryan Searle
1pt each-way 50-1 Hills

Masters predictions

The Masters starts in Milton Keynes on Friday evening, but those in attendance at the Marshall Arena will not be able to see man-of-the-moment Luke Littler.

The world of darts has been set ablaze by World Championship runner-up Littler – the teenage sensation who has taken the PDC circuit by storm – but The Nuke has not qualified for the Masters. The top 24 in the Order of Merit earned Masters spots and Littler, despite his Alexandra Palace heroics, is 31st in those standings.

With Littler back at home, doubtless playing his beloved Xbox, the senior statesmen of the PDC get the chance to star at the Marshall Arena. World champion Luke Humphries is the No. 1 seed – in the opposite half of the draw to No. 2 seed Michael van Gerwen.

Humphries faces a tough opening match against either Stephen Bunting or Ross Smith – two heavy scorers who will be well capable of matching Cool Hand's scoring power. Van Gerwen seems likely to get defending champion Chris Dobey as his opening Masters obstacle, so the top two seeds have been dealt a poor draw.

Preference is for going deeper in the outright betting for the best value options, with English duo Rob Cross and Ryan Searle fancied to make some headway through the competition.

Cross is an arrowsmith reborn, happier than ever on and off the oche and thrilled to get his Premier League place back. Voltage is moving house from Hastings to a new base in Lincolnshire to give him a more central location from which to get to darts events and confidence is coursing through his veins.

He enjoyed a run to the semi-finals of the World Championship, where he met an irrepressible Littler who averaged more than 106 in victory, and Cross, 33, knows he is a serious threat for all major titles again. The 2018 world champion fears nobody and players are having to perform to a high level to defeat him.

Cross beat Gary Anderson, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright in last year's Masters before losing 11-7 in the final to Dobey. A semi-final meeting with either Van Gerwen and Dobey could be on the cards for Cross this time.

Searle won a Players Championship title last February, made the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay in July, then conjured a nine-darter to make the knockout stages of the Grand Slam, enjoying his best season as a professional.

With Dirk van Duijvenbode in woeful form and Nathan Aspinall lacking consistency, Heavy Metal can make some noise in the top half of the draw.

Gerwyn Price withdrew from the tournament yesterday, citing family reasons. He has been replaced by Daryl Gurney.

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