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Who will lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3?
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PDC World Darts Championship: Free betting tips, preview and predictions for the 2021 edition at Alexandra Palace

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Fri December 18, 2020 · 4y ago

The pandemic can't stop the season-ending PDC World Darts Championship taking over Christmas and New Year as usual and our tipster Chris Hammer previews the action with season statistics and a list of all the 2020 tournament winners.

World Darts Championship: Recommended bets

Despite losing the best part of four months and 15 events of the season due to the pandemic, the PDC have somehow made it feel as though 2020 has been as action-packed as ever before, and all of a sudden we're preparing for the crescendo of Dartmas.

Sure, the reduced crowd numbers and Covid-19-enforced restrictions will of course prevent the usual atmosphere of singing, chanting and beer throwing within the historic walls of the Alexandra Palace, but at least it'll be a lot more real and inspiring than what we've been used to consuming since July. That's not to take anything away from what the PDC and TV networks have done to fill the void, by the way.

Consequently, I doubt the lesser known players will be rattled by the World Championship stage fright factor in quite the same way as in previous years due to the experience being potentially more like the gentle Lakeside ambiance, but nevertheless, the intensity, pressures, adrenaline and stakes will be as high as ever among the heat of the oche exchanges. (Written before London went back into tier 3, but this does not affect the tips)

Ultimately the cream does rise to the top on the biggest stage of all in this long, set-play format and apart from a plethora of early-round upsets that seem to happen every year and the odd shock semi-final run here and there - or in Kirk Shepherd's case, one step further - the finalists tend to be the superstars of each era. Even when Rob Cross won to cap his dream debut season, he'd been that impressive during the previous months that he only went off as a 16/1 'outsider'.

There's no question who the three biggest superstars are right now and it speaks volumes that a Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price final is 5/1 (currently Price Boosted to 8/1 by Sky Bet) and another MVG v Peter Wright showdown is 6/1, while the next possible eventualities start at 18/1 before rocketing up pretty sharply.

They've won seven of the 10 televised majors between them this season, with Price taking the majority with three if you include the World Cup alongside Jonny Clayton, but on the flip side there's only been one 'big three' final and that happened way back when MVG pipped the Iceman at the UK Open in March - just before the world would go a little bit strange.

The seven behind-closed-doors majors since the restart - as well as the partially attended European Championship - further underlined the rising standards of those lower down the rankings and an almost 'free for all' nature of top-class darts, which helped produce three maiden champions in Dimitri Van den Bergh, Glen Durrant and Jose De Sousa - none of whom needed to knockout MVG, Price or Wright along the way. Duzza did beat the trio during the Premier League regular season but their respective undoings weren't solely down to him.

PDC Majors: 2020

In regards to the four European Tour events on the stage and the 23 Players Championship floor tournaments - of which 15 were played in three, five-day series' in summer, autumn and winter - there were 15 different winners and eight runners-up who ended the season without a title.

Many will choose to take that with a relative pinch of salt given how the World Championship is on a completely different level to events like these but nevertheless, it does provide a gauge as to the title-winning capabilities of a wide range of players these days.

Non-televised PDC event winners 2020

PDC European Tour

Players Championships

If there's a player's name you haven't spotted in the various winners' enclosures above, then you could probably dismiss their chances of reaching the Ally Pally final. The shortest-priced players for glory who haven't managed to win a title this season are Dave Chisnall and Rob Cross, who are both 50/1, but they have at least made finals this year, with Voltage reaching three including the World Cup and Chizzy spurning four match darts and a 7-3 lead against Ryan Joyce in the Summer Series.

Simon Whitlock is also 50/1 having failed to reach any final but his brilliant runs at the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts - he beat MVG in all three - make him a dangerous outsider to win his quarter.

Season Statistics

Before we take each quarter of the draw in turn and try to crack this puzzle, here are some excellent statistical graphs for every player in the field from Darts Tracker creator and Sporting Life contributor Carl Fletcher (@CarlyFletch & @Darts_Tracker on Twitter), who has also written his own 'Super Six To Watch' feature on these pages based on his data as well as an additional special about which players are best at achieving the popular 'Match Treble' bet.

You'll find these stats highly useful for your pre-tournament and daily match bets as they give you a real sense of how well every player has been faring on the key areas of the game during this season.

I will of course refer back to some nuggets of gold during this preview and also in our daily prediction pieces, which both Carl and I will be writing this year.

NB: Averages & 180 per leg data covers events except World Grand Prix (which is double-start and distorts figures), 100+ checkout % is all events, and doubles percentage is stage events only (majors and European Tour) because definitive double stats for Players Championship events aren't available.

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for seeds 1-16

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for seeds 17-32

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for Pro Tour players ranked 1-16

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for Pro Tour players ranked 17-32

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for the first 14 international qualifiers

Carl Fletcher's statistical seasonal data for the remaining 12 international qualifiers

Right, whether you've taken all that in or scrolled right past it, here's the quarter-by-quarter preview...

Quarter One

  • (1) Michael van Gerwen v Ryan Murray/Lourence Ilagan
  • (32) Ricky Evans v Mickey Mansell/Haupai Puha
  • (16) Joe Cullen v Wayne Jones/Ciaran Teehan
  • (17) Jonny Clayton v John Henderson/Marko Kantele
  • (8) Dave Chisnall v Keegan Brown/Ryan Meikle
  • (25) Danny Noppert v Martijn Kleermacker/Cameron Carolissen
  • (9) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Luke Humphries/Paul Lim
  • (24) Jermaine Wattimena v Derk Telnekes/Nick Kenny

Odds to win quarter: MVG 8/15, VDB 9/2, Chisnall 9/1, Cullen 10/1, Clayton 12/1, Noppert 18/1, Humphries 25/1, Wattimena 28/1, Evans 33/1, Kleermaker 100/1, Ilagan 125/1, Meikle 150/1, Teinekes 150/1, Henderson 150/1, Brown 150/1, Mansell 150/1, Murray 150/1, Jones 150/1, Lim 150/1, Kenny 150/1, Kantele 150/1, Teehan 200/1, Carolissen 250/1, Puha 250/1

Champion to come from this quarter? 13/8

Verdict: Michael van Gerwen, but small punt on Jermaine Wattimena for value

If you're 'only' going to win two majors in a largely disappointing and inconsistent season - by Michael van Gerwen's astronomical standards that is - then make sure one of them is the last before the World Championship.

And that's exactly what MVG did at the Players Championship Finals as he just about held his nerve to see off surprise finalist Mervyn King 11-10 in a tremendous match in which he averaged 105 and threw no fewer than four 100+ checkouts.

His tournament average across his six matches - which included a semi-final win over Gerwyn Price - was an ominous 102 while he also went above three-figures on four occasions, with a best of 110 in a 10-5 mauling of Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Despite everything that's been said about his form this year, only Peter Wright has surpassed his seasonal average of 98.96 with a mark of 99.75 while Gerwyn Price (98.47) and Jose De Sousa (97.80) are closest behind him in the running. He's certainly not gone bad by any stretch of the imagination - he's just been dragged closer to the pack and become more vulnerable, and to a wider range of opponents.

Over this longer, set-play format, which usually brings the very best out of him, it's hard to see the three-time champion bow out earlier than the semi-finals for just the second time since reaching the 2013 final. That happened in the 2016 edition when Raymond van Barneveld pipped him in a third-round classic for the ages.

As much as I'd love to see the explosively entertaining Lourence Ilagan topple him in the second round (just imagine the scenes!), realistically his biggest threats to reaching the quarters will be Joe Cullen or Jonny Clayton. That said, Cullen has managed just one win on the Ally Pally stage in his 10 previous appearances and Clayton has won just twice in the last four. Maybe a less raucous atmosphere than usual will help?

In the bottom section of this quarter, I'm torn between Dave Chisnall, who agonisingly lost a World Grand Prix semi-final with Gerwyn Price in October, and Jermaine Wattimena.

Many will fancy Dimitri Van den Bergh due to a combination of his World Matchplay triumph and his stunning performances at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he lost a deciding leg to James Wade in the semis, while his record at the Ally Pally is superb having twice reached the quarter-finals in the last three years.

However, Luke Humphries has saved his best for the World Champs in the last two seasons with back-to-back quarter-final runs and if he gets past Paul Lim first up, he'll be a real handful in the battle between two former World Youth champions.

Waiting in the wings will be Wattimena, who has shown revived signs of promise over the past few months without quite managing to win his maiden PDC title.

The Machine Gun, who was beaten 3-2 by Humphries in a second-round epic 12 months ago, was denied that landmark moment by Michael Smith in a Players Championship final during the Winter Series having edged out Humphries earlier in the day, while he also lost a quarter-final to Peter Wright 48 hours later.

His seasonal average of 93.77 is solid enough compared to most of his contemporaries in the world's top 32 but his finishing is particularly impressive, with a checkout percentage of 46.58% on the stage. Sure he hasn't played as many of those matches as the bigger names but that's largely because he's unluckily come up against opponents who have played out of their skin.

Krzysztof Ratajski knocked him out of the World Matchplay with a 108 average and Humphries beat him at the recent Players Championship Finals in a match where they both produced 107s! Surely he's due an easier ride when his best will be enough.

Interestingly the aforementioned Carl Fletcher is also going for Wattimena as the value pick to win this quarter and I can promise you we wrote our previews without any knowledge of who the other was going for!

Quarter Two

  • (4) Michael Smith v Jason Lowe/Dimitri Gorbunov
  • (29) Devon Petersen v Steve Lennon/Daniel Larsson
  • (13) Gary Anderson v Madars Razma/Toru Suzuki
  • (20) Mensur Suljovic v Maik Kuivenhoven/Matt Egdar
  • (5) Rob Cross v Dirk Van Duijvenbode/Bradley Brooks
  • (28) Jamie Hughes v Adam Hunt/Lisa Ashton
  • (12) Glen Durrant v Steve Beaton/Diogo Portela
  • (21) Adrian Lewis v Damon Heta/Danny Baggish

Odds to win quarter: Smith 5/2, Anderson 9/2, Petersen 5/1, Durrant 11/2, Cross 13/2, Heta 10/1, Van Duijvenbode 11/1, Suljovic 12/1, Lewis 18/1, Hughes 18/1, Lennon 80/1, Razma 100/1, Lowe 100/1, Larsson 150/1, Hunt 150/1, Edgar 150/1, Beaton 150/1, Kuivenhoven 150/1, Brooks 150/1, Portela 200/1, Gorbunov 200/1, Baggish 200/1, Suzuki 250/1, Ashton 250/1

Champion to come from this quarter? 9/2

Verdict: Michael Smith, but Damon Heta for value

Anyone who reads my previews regularly could be forgiven for thinking Michael Smith is my 'cliff horse'.

I've backed him on numerous occasions - including this season - to finally win a major but there's always something missing just when it looks like his wait is about to end. Usually it's been his finishing that lets him down, starting with those three missed title darts in the deciding leg of the Masters final against Peter Wright.

Had he sunk one of those, this whole year could have been so much different.

The five-time major runner-up, who lost the finals of the 2018 Premier League, 2018 World Series of Darts Finals, 2019 World Championship and 2019 World Matchplay, also endured double troubles in an gut-wrenching 18-16 defeat to Gary Anderson in the World Matchplay semi-finals while he spurned 33 of his 47 attempts in his 16-14 Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals loss to Jose De Sousa.

He'd done brilliantly to battle back from 8-2 down to lead 10-9 but ultimately he ran out of steam. Revenge followed against De Sousa at the Players Championship Finals but a superb performance against Peter Wright in the last eight - in which he averaged 103 and hit 46% of his doubles - wasn't a strong enough antidote to deal with an even deadlier Snakebite in the last eight.

Bully Boy did at least win back-to-back floor titles during the Winter Series to end a farcical two-year title drought for a player of his standard and you could see how much it meant to him as he sought a new lease of life and confidence.

I'm going to follow him towards the cliff edge one last time for the season but this time I'm hoping he'll grow those wings and soar to new heights that his career richly deserves.

I'm not dismissing his potential opponents out of hand - Devon Petersen has enjoyed a breakthrough season that could so easily have been even better had he reached the European Championship final, while Anderson could be a thorn in his side again if he fully recovers from his latest injury woes.

Mensur Suljovic is obviously a very capable operator but we haven't seen much of him in recent weeks due to personal reasons and family bereavements and while he's statistically played well at times this year, he hasn't had a big run at a major since 2019.

In the bottom section there's Smith's World Cup partner Rob Cross, who Smith beat 10-9 at the Grand Slam, but Voltage could become a cropper to World Grand Prix runner-up Dirk Van Duijvenbode in a really tough second-round fixture while it's very hard to predict whether Glen Durrant has recovered enough from his Covid-19 illness to be firing on all cylinders, especially given the longer format.

That leaves us with rising star Damon Heta, who I recently backed to win his quarter at the Players Championship Finals only to watch in horror as he blew a 7-2 lead in a 10-8 defeat to eventual runner-up Mervyn King in the last eight!

Brushing that disappointment aside, his encouraging run was yet another step in the right direction for the Australian, who also reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts on debut before losing 16-13 to James Wade with an average of 98.

Those impressive runs have helped him climb rapidly up the Order of Merit to 56, which is incredible when you think he only earned his PDC Tour Card in January, while he also won his maiden ranking title during the Autumn Series and almost made that two when losing 8-6 to Gerwyn Price in a winter final.

Across the five days of the Winter Series, he won 16 of his 21 matches and averaged over 100 on nine occasions - three of them in defeat.

Heta, who stunned us all when defying 250/1 odds to beat James Wade, Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and Rob Cross to become the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters champion, also has experience of the Ally Pally having thrashed Jose De Sousa 3-0 in last year's first round before bowing out by the same scoreline to Glen Durrant and he's ready for a potentially big run.

Quarter Three

  • (2) Peter Wright v Steve West/Amit Gilitwala
  • (31) Gabriel Clemens v Andy Hamilton/Niko Kurz
  • (15) Krzysztof Ratajski v Ryan Joyce/Karel Sedlacek
  • (18) Simon Whitlock v Darius Labanauskas/Chengan Liu
  • (7) James Wade v Callan Rydz/James Bailey
  • (26) Stephen Bunting v Andy Boulton/Deta Hedman
  • (10) Ian White v Kim Huybrechts/Di Zhuang
  • (23) Jeffrey de Zwaan v Ryan Searle/Danny Lauby

Odds to win quarter: Wright 11/10, Wade 9/2, Ratajski 8/1, Whitlock 8/1, White 12/1, Clemens 14/1, De Zwaan 16/1, Searle 25/1, Bunting 40/1, Rydz 40/1, Huybrechts 50/1, Joyce 66/1, Labanauskas 80/1, Kurz 100/1, Boulton 100/1, West 125/1, Sedlacek 150/1, Hamilton 200/1, Di Zhuang 250/1, Lauby 250/1, Bailey 250/1, Liu 250/1, Gilitwala 250/1, Hedman 250/1

Champion to come from this quarter? 3/1

Verdict: Probably Wright but Jeffrey de Zwaan for value and Niko Kurz as a huge-priced shock

After fulfilling his lifelong dream to win the world title before the age of 50 with just a few months to spare, it looked as though Peter Wright was about to embark on an era of dominance when following up his Ally Pally heroics with another TV title at the Masters.

He'd also spoken about how much he was relishing the prospect of being announced as the world champion during his walk-ons in front of thousands of fans at events around the world, but those highs were short-lived as the season - and indeed the world - came to an abrupt halt.

It was perhaps fitting, therefore, that the only major Snakebite added to his collection since the sport resumed in July was the only one that had a crowd at all - the European Championship.

He was pretty much unplayable that weekend in Oberhausen - averaging over 100 in all his five of his games, including victories over Gerwyn Price and James Wade, and firing in 32 180s overall - and if he can reproduce those levels in front of another crowd then it'll take a monumental effort to beat him.

Wright, who won four floor titles this year, may not have reached the final of the other majors, but his overall average for the season across all events is higher than anyone else this season while his 180s per leg ratio of 0.36 is only bettered by maximum machine Devon Petersen, who managed 0.38.

However, he has produced some weirdly poor performances on the stage such as during the first round of the World Grand Prix (82.06), his group defeat to Petersen at the Grand Slam of Darts (83.12) and his semi-final loss to Mervyn King at the Players Championship Finals (84.10) having earlier looked irresistible against Michael Smith.

So while it would be no surprise whatsoever to see him waltz through this section of the draw, I'd be nervous about those off-days rearing their ugly heads against such dangerous opposition.

As mentioned earlier in the article, Simon Whitlock achieving a major three-peat over MVG since the restart was nothing short of staggering - albeit deserved - and he is probably the only player in the field with genuine title ambitions that hasn't reached any final this season.

Two semi-final defeats - particularly to Dirk van Duijvenbode in the World Grand Prix - will hurt but overall it's been a season of defiance and a reminder to everyone just how formidable he can be on his day.

As highly as I rate Krzysztof Ratajski having backed him in a couple of majors this season, the Polish Eagle has seemingly gone off the boil a little and will be vulnerable to Ryan Joyce in round two - let alone Whitlock in the third - and the same could be said about Gabriel Clemens.

The surprise package in this upper section could be rising star Nico Kurz, who beat Clemens on his way to German Superleague glory earlier in the season and that sealed his Ally Pally return 12 months on from beating James Wilson and Joe Cullen on debut before bowing out to Luke Humphries in a cracker despite averaging a superior 96.

He started the year with some impressive results on the Development Tour before lockdown and showed us a brief glimpse of his rich potential in the two European Tour events he qualified for in September and October. In the first, he defied Jason Lowe's 100 average to win 6-4 before defeat to James Wade with a 94 average, while Glen Durrant's ruthless finishing was too much in the second.

The 23-year-old, who famously beat Gary Anderson at the 2019 German Darts Masters before losing 8-6 to Peter Wright, is unsurprisingly a massive price of 100/1 to get through this quarter but he's fresh, has the fearlessness of youth and the biggest shocks he needs to cause comes when the format is at its shortest.

If he can get past the upper section, his potential quarter-final opponent is feasibly weaker.

The bottom section is very open, with James Wade, Ian White, Stephen Bunting, Kim Huybrechts, Jeffrey de Zwaan and Ryan Searle all probably believing they can come through it. Although Wade has reached two TV finals recently and remains a top eight player, he's still susceptible to producing very beatable performances, so it makes sense to look for value elsewhere.

White's record at the Ally Pally is a concern but you can't say he struggles to reach quarter-finals of majors having played in 10 of them down the years - albeit winning just one of them - and he has won a title this year.

Huybrechts will be a tricky opener for him and then it's going to be one of De Zwaan and Searle - a fascinating match that's very tough to call.

The latter won his maiden PDC title before lockdown and while he hasn't ventured far on TV this year, he did beat Dimitri Van den Bergh with a 100 average in the first round of the Players Championship Finals at the end of November before losing a high-quality affair with Callan Rydz. Statistically he's inside the world's top 16 on averages for all ranking tournaments with 95 and can't be underestimated.

However, De Zwaan just about gets my vote given his knack of delivering high-octane displays on the big stage, even if his floor form has been patchy to say the least this season.

The Dutchman gave Wright a real scare in a breathless fourth-round encounter 12 months ago, eventually going down 4-3 after previously taking the scalp of Dave Chisnall by the same scoreline with a stunning average of 106.

The 2018 World Matchplay semi-finalist beat Jamie Hughes and Gabriel Clemens to reach the World Grand Prix quarters back in October before bowing out to winner Gerwyn Price, while at the Players Championship Finals, he posted back-to-back 100 averages in victories over Darren Webster and Wayne Jones before losing 10-7 to another eventual champion in MVG.

Realistically he'll probably need Snakebite to lose earlier than the best of nine set quarters - like he so nearly did against Noel Malicdem last year and as he did against Toni Alcinas 12 months earlier - if he's reach the last four, but if it's anyone else, he can turn them over.

Quarter Four

  • (3) Gerwyn Price v Luke Woodhouse/Jamie Lewis
  • (30) Brendan Dolan v Mike De Decker/Edward Foulkes
  • (14) Jose de Sousa v Ross Smith/David Evans
  • (19) Mervyn King v Max Hopp/Gordon Mathers
  • (6) Nathan Aspinall v Scott Waites/Matt Campbell
  • (27) Vincent van der Voort v Ron Meulenkamp/Boris Krcmar
  • (11) Daryl Gurney v William O'Connor/Neils Zonneveld
  • (22) Chris Dobey v Jeff Smith/Keane Barry

Odds to win quarter: Price 6/5, Aspinall 4/1, De Sousa 4/1, Gurney 14/1, King 22/1, Dobey 25/1, Van der Voort 40/1, Barry 50/1, Smith 50/1, Dolan 55/1, Evans 66/1, Woodhouse 66/1, Hopp 66/1, Krcmar 80/1, O'Connor 80/1, Waites 80/1, Smith 100/1, Lewis 100/1, Meulenkamp 100/1, Zonneveld 125/1, De Decker 150/1, Campbell 150/1, Mathers 250/1, Foulkes 250/1

Champion to come from this quarter? 5/2

Verdict: Nathan Aspinall, but Gurney for a spot of value

Last, but certainly not least, we have a quarter that looks to be a three-horse race between Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Jose De Sousa.

World number three Price banished his Ally Pally hoodoo last year when reaching the semi-finals, only for his campaign to turn sour in a heated defeat to Wright in which he never got going at all.

Since then he's turned into arguably the best player in the world having won more titles than anyone else with eight, including three televised events since darts resumed in July.

You could say he lacked his usual spark when losing to Nathan Aspinall 10-8 in the Grand Slam second round and 11-8 in the last four of the Players Championship Finals as he averaged 90 and 95 respectively, but a few weeks' rest and he could be absolutely phenomenal again.

He should make relatively light work of his opening two games before a potentially mouthwatering clash with counting maverick and scoring machine Jose De Sousa, whose seasonal average of 97.8 isn't much below Price's 98.47.

The Grand Slam of Darts champion's story has resonated with the darting public having given up his a job as a carpenter last year to become a "rising star" of the sport at the age of 46.

De Sousa's run in Coventry wasn't much of a surprise given the way he's taken the PDC by storm and soared up the rankings since earning his Tour Card at the start of 2019, while he'd won his first European Tour event just a month earlier thanks to a final win over Michael van Gerwen.

It was, however, his first and only big run on TV to date and now with that confidence in the bank, he'll not be short of backers as he looks to win his first match at the fourth attempt on the Ally Pally stage. Indeed, he's come a long way since that infamously shocking match against Michael Barnard two years ago!

However, Ross Smith has been playing very well on the circuit in recent months and will present a stern examination should he get past Challenge Tour winner David Evans, who has also caught the eye this year for his performances in online leagues.

Whoever wins that prospective match between Price and De Sousa could be mentally shot, and a true set-play fighter like Nathan Aspinall could well take advantage if he comes through the bottom section of this quarter.

The 2019 UK Open champion is flying under the radar somewhat despite reaching the final of the Premier League, where he was bitterly disappointed to be out-scrapped by Glen Durrant having earlier disposed of Wright, but there are still plenty of other reasons to gloss over his lack of titles since the season restart.

He battled past defending champion Price 10-8 to reach the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals and then came agonisingly close to pipping Dimitri Van den Bergh, only to lose 16-15 when waiting to come back for 36 in a deciding leg.

At the recent Players Championship, he lost in the second round to Ross Smith despite averaging almost 102 in a performance that was let down by uncharacteristically missing 10 of his 13 darts at doubles.

Most importantly he loves the set play of the World Championship having reached back-to-back semi-finals and he won't fear anyone in this section of the draw.

Boris Krcmar proved how dangerous he could be in a shorter format with that 107 average against Michael Smith at the Players but he'd have to come through Ron Meulenkamp and Vincent van der Voort first while after that it's hard to predict a fourth-round opponent.

Daryl Gurney, a 2017 quarter-finalist, is badly out of form but loves a scrap and will relish the prospect of proving the doubters wrong after a much-needed rest, and if he does come through this 'softer' section, he might be the animal of old by the time the quarter-finals come round.

Chris Dobey can't be overlooked despite a disappointing season because he has twice reached the fourth round over the last two years and has a high ceiling of performance while William O'Connor reached a Players Championship semi-final last month at the Winter Series - beating Wade, Clayton and Searle along the way before losing to Price - and also lost to eventual champion Wade at the European Championship quarter-finals.

Canadian star Jeff Smith is a player who can cause damage but try picking the winner from his first-round clash with future prospect Keane Barry, who continues to earn rave reviews at the age of 18 especially after averaging 94 across his 13 matches at the Winter Series.

But whoever it is, Aspinall should prove too much before going into battle with Price or De Sousa.

Name the finalists and tournament winner

Although my non-value quarter winners don't seem too controversial, you can get 50/1 on MVG, Michael Smith, Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall all progressing to the semi-finals.

From there I'm going to stick with Smith as I have done for the most of the season and then stump for Aspinall to make it an all-English final and a guarantee of a first-time champion.

Smith v Aspinall is 100/1 in places but I think the winner will be Bully Boy.

If, like me, you are opposing the 'big three' but really can't decide who the champion will be, then how about Sky Bet's 11/8 that it will be anyone other than MVG, Wright or Price?

Who will hit the most 180s?

The 'winner' of this market in the last five stagings of the World Championship have all reached the final and I'm sure that trend continues even further back.

In 2016, runner-up Adrian Lewis fired in 60 compared to champion Gary Anderson's 51 while the Flying Scotsman broke the tournament record with 71 the following year despite losing the final to Michael van Gerwen, who managed the second highest with 66.

The 2018 champion Rob Cross managed 66 which was 16 more than surprise semi-finalist Jamie Lewis although the tournament runner-up Phil Taylor was fourth behind MVG with 'just' 38.

Michael Smith topped the charts with 64 in the 2019 edition - 13 clear of his semi-final victim Anderson and a further five ahead of champion MVG - while Peter Wright romped home with 68 last year. That tally was a whopping 24 more than Aspinall and 25 ahead of MVG.

The point is, only bet on a player you really think can make the final. Wright is 9/2 favourite, MVG 11/2, Smith 7/1, Price 8/1, De Sousa 12/1, Petersen 20/1 and Aspinall 28/1.

Meanwhile, Carl Fletcher has crunched the numbers to find out which players are more likely to bring up the popular match treble bets throughout the tournament - which is to throw most 180s, achieve the highest checkout AND win the match. Click here to check it out!

What price is a nine-dart finish?

All of the previous nine in PDC World Championship history have come since the 2009 edition at the Alexandra Palace - but none since Gary Anderson managed it en route to winning the 2016 staging.

It's even-money for the 10th perfect leg to happen, which is actually slightly bigger than the 8/11 available for last year's edition.

There were a record-breaking 47 nine-darters in the PDC last year but the 2020 tally of 28 is extremely impressive given the obvious circumstances. Of those 28, five have been managed on TV (Smith - Premier League, MVG & Clayton - UK Open, Wright - Premier League, De Sousa - European Championship) whereas in 2019, only MVG achieved one of those at the Players Championship Finals.

If you're a fan of snooker you'll also have noticed a glut of televised maximums, including John Higgins managing one at the Crucible, and that's reopened up the debate - yet again - about whether the 147 is becoming easier than the nine-darter after all! I think the more logical explanation is that the lack of pressure from the crowd and a sterile environment has lessened the distraction at key moments.

With that in mind, maybe a quieter Ally Pally crowd than usual can only aid the nine-darter chances if anything.

You can click here to watch them all but as a bonus here is that magical moment at the Lakeside from Paul Lim as he gears up for a remarkable 25th World Championship appearance.

Posted at 1500 GMT on 11/12/20

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Click on the image to read Paul Nicholson's preview

Click here for Carl Fletcher's Super Six guide

Click here to find out which players are best at winning with the most 180s and the highest checkouts?

PDC World Darts Championship: Past Finals, Nine-darters, statistics & format

FINALS

Final scores in sets

PDC World Darts Championship Most Titles

  • Phil Taylor - 14
  • Michael van Gerwen - 3
  • John Part - 2
  • Adrian Lewis - 2
  • Gary Anderson - 2
  • Peter Wright - 1
  • Rob Cross - 1
  • Dennis Priestly - 1
  • Raymond van Barneveld - 1

PDC World Darts Championship Nine-Dart Finishes

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THEM ALL

  • Raymond van Barneveld - 2009 (QF win v Jelle Klaasen)
  • Raymond van Barneveld - 2010 (2nd Rd win v Brendan Dolan)
  • Adrian Lewis - 2011 (Final win v Gary Anderson)
  • Dean Winstanley - 2013 (2nd Rd loss v Vincent van der Voort)
  • Michael van Gerwen - 2013 (SF win v James Wade)
  • Terry Jenkins - 2014 (1st Rd loss v Per Laursen)
  • Kyle Anderson - 2014 (1st Rd loss v Ian White)
  • Adrian Lewis - 2015 (3rd Rd loss v Raymond van Barneveld)
  • Gary Anderson - 2016 (SF win v Jelle Klaasen)

Highest three-dart averages

There's been over 150 three-dart match averages of 100 or more since the PDC World Championship began while averages of over 105 are becoming more common than ever. Here, are the highest 10 three-dart averages achieved by a player in a single match:

  • 114.05 - Michael van Gerwen (2017 SF, 6-2 v Raymond van Barneveld)
  • 111.21 - Phil Taylor (2002 2nd rd, 6-1 v Shayne Burgess)
  • 110.94 - Phil Taylor (2009 final, 7-1 v van Barneveld)
  • 109.34 - Raymond van Barneveld (2017 SF, 2-6 v Michael van Gerwen)
  • 109.23 - Michael van Gerwen (2016 2nd rd, 4-0 v Darren Webster)
  • 109.00 - Phil Taylor (2007 2nd rd, 4-1 v Mick McGovern)
  • 108.80 - Phil Taylor (2009 QF, 5-0 v Co Stompe)
  • 108.65 - Michael van Gerwen (2018, 2nd rd, 4-0 v James Wilson)
  • 108.39 - Gary Anderson (2011, 3rd rd, 4-0 v Andy Smith)
  • 108.31 - Raymond van Barneveld (2013, 1st rd, 3-0 v Michael Smith)
  • 108.30 - Phil Taylor (2006 3rd rd, 4-0 v Andy Hamilton)

Highest losing averages

  • 109.34 - Raymond van Barneveld (2017 SF, 2-6 v van Gerwen)
  • 106.09 - Jeffrey de Zwaan (2019 2nd Round, 1-3 v Rob Cross)
  • 106.07 - Cristo Reyes (2017 2nd rd, 2-4 v van Gerwen)
  • 105.78 - Michael van Gerwen (2016 3rd rd, 3-4 v van Barneveld)
  • 104.93 - Gary Anderson (2017 final, 3-7 v van Gerwen)
  • 104.63 - Dave Chisnall (2017 QF, 3-5 v Gary Anderson)

Players with the most 100+ averages

  • Phil Taylor - 56, highest 111.21 (2002)
  • Michael van Gerwen - 30, highest 114.05 (2017)
  • Gary Anderson - 20, highest 108.39 (2011)
  • Adrian Lewis - 15, highest 106.51 (2010)
  • Raymond van Barneveld - 13, highest 109.34 (2017)
  • Peter Wright - 12, highest 105.07 (2014)
  • Michael Smith - 7, highest 105.22 (2019, SF)
  • Rob Cross - 6, highest 107.67 (2018 Final)
  • Simon Whitlock - 6, highest 105.37 (2010)
  • Dave Chisnall - 4, highest 104.63 (2017)
  • Dimitri Van den Bergh - 3, 104.45 (2019)
  • Jelle Klaasen - 3, highest 102.54 (2016)
  • Jeffrey De Zwaan - 2, highest 106.54 (2012)
  • Jamie Lewis - 2, highest 107.27 (2018)
  • Gerwyn Price - 2, highest 104.20 (2020)
  • Terry Jenkins - 2, highest 102.64 (2012)
  • Andy Hamilton - 2, highest 102.04 (2011)
  • Chris Dobey - 2, highest 101.09 (2020)
  • Daryl Gurney - 2, highest 100.51 (2018)
  • Cristo Reyes - 1, highest 106.07 (2017)
  • Darren Webster - 1, highest 104.64 (2017)
  • Richie Burnett - 1, highest 103.38 (2001)
  • Corey Cadby - 1, highest 102.48 (2017)
  • Co Stompe - 1, highest 102.42 (2010)
  • Stephen Bunting - 1, highest 102.34 (2015)
  • Benito van de Pas - 1, highest 102.30 (2017)
  • Mick McGowan - 1, highest 101.82 (2007)
  • Ryan Searle - 1, highest 101.54 (2020)
  • Robert Thornton - 1, highest 101.49 (2015)
  • Dennis Priestley - 1, highest 101.48 (1996)
  • Vincent van der Voort - 1, highest 101.17 (2018)
  • Joe Cullen - 1, highest 100.88 (2017)
  • Nathan Aspinall - 1, highest 100.53 (2019)
  • Ian White - 1, highest 100.33 (2020)
  • Christian Kist - 1, highest 100.23 (2018)

World Darts Championship: Prize Fund

  • Winner: £500,000
  • Runner-Up: £200,000
  • Semi-Final: £100,000
  • Quarter-Final: £50,000
  • Fourth Round: £35,000
  • Third Round: £25,000
  • Second Round: £15,000
  • First Round: £7,500
  • TOTAL: £2,500,000

World Darts Championship: Format

  • Final: Best of 13 sets
  • Semi-Final: Best of 11 sets
  • Quarter-Final: Best of nine sets
  • Fourth Round: Best of seven sets
  • Third Round: Best of seven sets
  • Second Round: Best of five sets
  • First Round: Best of five sets

Unlike every other edition, there will be no tie-breaks this year. So if the final set of a match is level at 2-2, the next leg will win the match and there will be no "bull-off" to see who throws first.

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