Cameron Menzies

Today's PDC World Darts Championship predictions: Betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time for Monday December 16

By James Cooper

Darts

Mon December 16, 2024 · 1d ago

The 2025 Paddy Power World Darts Championship continues on Monday so check out James Cooper's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.

Darts betting tips: World Championship day two

1.5pts Connor Scutt match treble (win, most 180s and highest checkout) vs Ben Robb at 11/8 (Coral, Ladbrokes)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Format: best of five sets

Niels Zonneveld (4/7) v Robert Owen (8/5)

Three-dart average (2024) 92.45-90.47
180s per leg (2024) 0.26-0.21
Checkout % (2024) 40.27-36.18

As the more established player and tour card holder, Zonneveld deserves to be favourite for this but it’s fair to say his record at Ally Pally isn’t a good one.

In three attempts he’s lost 3-0 twice and when he did get it right against Darren Webster a year ago, it was a low-quality match (sub-80 average).

Zonneveld did play better in defeat against Ross Smith in round two but this is another I can see getting a bit twitchy.

Owen, a former UK Open semi-finalist, has the tools to make this a closely-run race and while Zonneveld won 6-2 in legs when the pair clashed earlier this season, it could be closer this time in what is the pressure cooker of the first game of the evening session.

Scoreline verdict: 3-2

Connor Scutt (1/7) v Ben Robb (6/1)

Three-dart average (2024) 92.44-81.04
180s per leg (2024) 0.29-0.17
Checkout % (2024) 37.68-33.19

Having been first priced up at 1/5, all the money has been for Connor Scutt and to be honest, it’s easy to see why when you look the stats above.

Having lost his tour card and failed to get back on via Q-School in 2024, Scutt has elevated his game to a whole new level, taking top spot on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.

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A run to the quarter-final of the Players Championship Finals indicates the level Scutt is operating at and he’s more than capable of surpassing a three-figure average in any match.

We’ve had a bit of exposure to Robb at the World Championship, where the New Zealander is 0-4 and on recent form, it’s long odds-on to be 0-5 by Monday night.

The 3-0 correct score is now around 11/10 and that is one way of backing a comfortable win, but at slightly longer odds, I’ll take the match treble (win, highest checkout and most 180s).

Scoreline verdict: 3-0

Cameron Menzies (1/4) v Leonard Gates (10/3)

Three-dart average (2024) 95.82-86.91
180s per leg (2024) 0.33-0.18
Checkout % (2024) 40.77-37.12

They’ve possibly saved for the best for last, with the self-deprecating Cameron Menzies taking on popular American Leonard Gates.

Make no mistake, Menzies is one of the non-seeds most seeded players will have been keen to avoid and the fact he’s 66/1 (which does look a bit insulting) to win his quarter is largely due to the fact he’s housed in the same section as Luke Littler.

Menzies, though, has been fairly prolific in 2024, winning tournaments at varying levels and you certainly cannot knock his Players Championship event success during the autumn, seeing off Jose De Sousa, Rob Cross, James Wade and Stephen Bunting amongst others in the process.

Gates has had a fair amount of TV experience, representing his country in the World Cup, too so he won’t be fazed by this but at aged 54, it’s hard to see him finding a level that could seriously trouble and on-song Menzies.

Scoreline verdict: 3-1

Gerwyn Price (1/3) v Keane Barry (9/4)

Three-Dart Average (2024): 97.05 - 90.16
180s per leg (2024): 0.30 - 0.18
Checkout % (2024): 40.37% - 37.68%

Keane Barry showed tremendous character to come from a set down against Kim Huybrechts last night and if he plays to the levels he displayed during the second half of that contest then Gerwyn Price could be vulnerable.

Barry fired in seven of the 17 maximums in just 18 legs and averaged almost 95 but both of those stats are considerably higher than what he usually manages this season.

Gerwyn Price has endured a difficult season, particularly in recent months, and has even admitted struggles with confidence on stage, which we saw during a first-round exit to Thibault Tricole at the Players Championship Finals.

If Barry can get himself into a lead, it'll be interesting to see how the young Irishman can hold his nerve and whether Price has enough belief to respond.

It could go all the way tonight and if so, I fancy Price to use that extra experience to edge through.

Scoreline verdict: 3-2

Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)

SL Acca: 1pt Woodhouse most 180s, Soutar most 180s, Scutt -1.5 sets at 5/2 with Paddy Power

TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Format: best of five sets (R1/R2)

Wesley Plaisier (2/11) v Ryusei Azemoto (9/2) (R1)

Three-dart average (2024) 90.91-84.30
180s per leg (2024) 0.18-0.12
Checkout % (2024) 41.07-35.92

Not only did Wesley Plaisier enjoy a superb campaign on the secondary Challenge Tour (two wins along with two runner-up efforts putting him second on the Order of Merit), he also confirmed that he can more than mix it with the best on the main tour as he bagged a Players Championship event along with two other final appearances.

We’ve certainly seen some fireworks in the recent past from Asian Tour qualifiers but as the numbers above hopefully indicate, Azemoto, who looked a deliberate player when I checked him on YouTube, seemingly doesn’t possess the scoring power to seriously trouble Plaisier.

It is a debut for Plaisier in this event, though, and the fact Azemoto has won four times on his home tour in 2024 suggests he may well be capable of nicking a set, but Plaisier should ultimately be too strong.

Scoreline verdict: 3-1

Luke Woodhouse (3/10) v Lourence Ilagan (11/4) (R1)

Three-dart average (2024) 93.27-85.33
180s per leg (2024) 0.27-0.17
Checkout % (2024) 40.91-37.45

A mixed season became a very good one in one fell swoop for Luke Woodhouse when a run to the semi-final of the European Championship netted him £40,000.

It hasn’t yet clicked for Woodhouse on the biggest stage but his superior scoring ammunition should see him progress here.

Regular watchers will have seen the veteran Ilagan plenty of times and at this stage of his career it’s hard to believe he will produce anything way above his usual game so Woodhouse most 180s looks a good addition to any accumulator.

Scoreline verdict: 3-1

Alan Soutar (4/7) v Kai Gotthardt (6/4) (R1)

Three-dart average (2024) 91.56-86.82
180s per leg (2024) 0.30-0.18
Checkout % (2024) 37.35-33.74

Alan Soutar’s run to the last-16 was one of the early talking points of the 2022 World Championship and the popular Scotsman repeated the feat 12 months later.

There wasn’t a lot to shout about in 2023 but a breakthrough Players Championship win this summer must have been one of Soutar’s career highlights.

There has been plenty of early exits in tournaments since for Soutar and Gotthardt has a pretty healthy win percentage this season, albeit in lesser company on the Challenge Tour/European Super League.

This could get nervy but Soutar’s TV experience may well be the deciding factor.

Scoreline verdict: 3-2

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James Wade (4/5) v Jermaine Wattimena (10/11) (R2)

Three-Dart Average (2024): 94.70 - 95.01
180s per leg (2024): 0.22 - 0.25
Checkout % (2024): 42.03% - 39.57%

Jermaine Wattimena made an impressive start to his campaign last night as he averaged 98.54 in a 3-0 triumph over Stefan Bellmont, and there'll be plenty of fans expecting James Wade to be the first seed to crash out this year.

Wattimena's stock and confidence has been rising over the past few months with runs to the European Championship final and the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals, where Luke Littler emphatically stopped him in his tracks.

There's not been much for Wade to shout about this season and he averaged under 90 in three of his last five matches on TV at the Grand Slam and the Players Championship Finals, while he's crashed out at his first hurdle in his previous two World Championship appearances.

If he lets the Machine Gun make a fast start, he'll be in trouble.

Scoreline verdict: 2-3