PDC World Championship: darts betting predictions, free tips & where to watch

Free darts tips, best bets and analysis for the William Hill World Championship at London's Alexandra Palace.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Arena from 7pm Tuesday

Tournament preview

It will look very different, it will sound very different, it will feel very different, but the one thing that never changes is the enthusiasm of players and punters alike as we get set for the next instalment of the greatest show in darts.

The 28th running of the William Hill World Darts Championship, a 19-day darting extravaganza to get us through the festive season, is about to unfold with 96 of the world's best arrowsmiths vying for the right to hold aloft the Sid Waddell Trophy and pocket a cheque for £500,000.

Changes have been made in these Covid times. The only fancy dress on view will be face masks and they will be worn by just 1,000 socially-distanced spectators at each session. The start times have been brought forward and there will be no deciding-set tiebreaks to ensure prompt finishes.

So yes it's different but it's also here and that's the main thing. All the talk over recent months has been whether or not Christmas would be saved – and here's the proof it has been.

Best bet

Gerwyn Price
2pts 11-2 Betfair, Betfred, Paddy Power

The honour of winning the most titles in a calendar year has been bestowed upon just four darters. Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen multiple times obviously, Barney in 2007 - and Gerwyn Price in 2020.

An annus horribilis for most of us, it's been an annus mirabilis for the Welshman, the world number three and in-form superstar who is now poised to add world glory to all the other titles he currently possesses.

It's 16-1 bar the big three of Van Gerwen, defending champion Peter Wright and Gezzy, and those who think this year's event is more open than ever before might happily swerve all three.

That said, the cream rises to the top at Alexandra Palace. It's true that 2020 has seen a surfeit of new PDC champs, such as Dimitri van den Bergh, Glen Durrant and Jose de Sousa. But there hasn't been a winner at odds bigger than 16-1 since Adrian Lewis got up at 33-1 a decade ago, while Kirk Shepherd's incredible run to the 2008 final as a 1,000-1 no-hoper seems like a lifetime ago.

Countless times we've heard commentators proclaim this or that world finals the most open ever – and every time it's a household name who gets crowned.

Of the big three Van Gerwen looks a better bet than the man he lost to in last year's final, Wright, but The Iceman can melt the pair of them and anyone else for that matter.

Price, no longer the panto villain he once was, has won eight titles in a shortened year and not just front-room events on Zoom. Along with his four Pro Tour triumphs he has partnered Jonny Clayton to World Cup gold, and also won the Belgian Championship, the World Series and the Grand Prix.

He warmed up for this one by making the semis at the Players Championship Finals where he was touched off by Van Gerwen, who knows he has a match in the Welshman.

Each-way chance

Dimitri van den Bergh
1pt each-way 22-1 Betfair, Betfred, BoyleSports

There are so many names to consider but it's hard to escape the feeling that many of those who impressed this year are too short in the betting, notably new Grand Slam champ De Sousa and Michael Smith, who continues to find ways to disappoint.

Nathan Aspinall is more interesting having reached the semis in each of the last two years and made the Premier League final while the list of quality arrowsmiths nowadays runs deep.

Gary Anderson, a four-time finalist and twice winner, would be crying out for attention at 33-1 except that he's got knee issues and also throws his toys at the first whiff of any gamesmanship, which can surely invite only one response from prospective opponents.

Then there's the enigmatic Joe Cullen who simply refuses to make the breakthrough we all expect, James Wade is showing form, Glen Durrant isn't – the list goes on and on and on.

One man who can get Van Gerwen from his quarter is Dimitri van den Bergh, the reigning Matchplay champ.

The Belgian won't be dancing on to the stage at the Palace (his knee is in a brace though it's just for support, hasn't inconvenienced him over the autumn and he insists there's absolutely no pain) but he could be hot-footing it all the way to the final.

The big game would come against Luke Humphries (presumably) in round two but The Dream-maker is in fantastic form, fears no one and having reached the quarters in two of the last three worlds he clearly thrives on the Alexandra Palace stage.

Long shot

Simon Whitlock
1pt each-way 66-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Bookmakers' each-way terms are a fairly meagre one-third the two - even with 96 contenders going to post - but we've seen one or two big numbers prevail in recent times.

Shepherd was the most noteworthy 13 years ago but there have been a pair of 80-1 finalists (Simon Whitlock in 2010 and Wright in 2014) and Andy Hamilton went all the way to finals night as a 200-1 chance in 2012.

And Whitlock may well merit a look this time at odds of 66-1.

The ponytailed Aussie has enjoyed something of a renaissance since lockdown, battering MvG on his way to the Matchplay quarters, producing two of only three ton-plus averages at the Grand Prix where he made the semis and making the last four again at the Grand Slam.

Quarter Masters

Damon Heta to win second quarter
1pt each-way 11-1 Betfred
Gabriel Clemens to win third quarter
1pt each-way 16-1 general

The one quarter that hasn't been mentioned so far is the second one where Smith, seeded four, is favourite in arguably the toughest section of all.

Smith's path to the semis, if the seedings stand up, would mean beating one-to-watch Jason Lowe, Devon Petersen, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross and finally Van Gerwen. He could stumble against any of those and several of the others in his section.

In the other eighth of that section is another player who has performed brilliantly in 2020, Damon Heta, who's 11-1 to go all the way to the last four.

A Pro Tour winner in September and runner-up last month, the Aussie has made three televised quarter-finals in the last six weeks and continues to impress whenever he toes the oche.

If Whitlock messes up the third quarter, ignore the claims of Snakebite and chuck an arrer at Gabriel Clemens, the huge-scoring German who is into the world's top 32 and on the up.

Specials

S Whitlock most tournament 180s
1pt each-way 20-1 Hills

The usual suspects are going to be in the running for most tournament 180s honours and no one is in richer nick around the lipstick right now than Simon Whitlock.

Ordinarily, unless you think The Wizard is going all the way to the final, you probably wouldn't give the Aussie more than a couple of glances in that market.

But fair play to the sponsors for offering each-way terms on a market that has been crying out for a place option and suddenly Whitlock is one of a gaggle of big-hitters who comes into the reckoning.

Granted in all likelihood he will have to make the semis to be in with a sniff but there is no reason why he can't do that.

A Grand Prix and Grand Slam semi-finalist this autumn, he knows how to get to the back end of tournaments and he's been doing it this year while smashing the treble-20 bed.

At last month's Slam he was irresistible. There was a sign of things to come when he pinged seven maximums in a group-stage win over Adam Gawlas but that was just the starter.

In his quarter-final the bearded chucker from down under broke the competition record by hurling an outrageous 20 180s during his dramatic success against Michael van Gerwen. He then hit 12 more in his semi.

Three times over the years Whitlock would have copped for each-way backers in a most 180s market and if he can get a run he can go in again.

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