PDC World Championship: Saturday preview and best bets

The PDC World Championship roared back into action yesterday with six fantastic round three clashes — and six more men will book their spot in the last 16 today.

Our darts tipster Matt Hill (@Matt_Hill93) turned a solid profit yesterday and is on hand to give you the lowdon ahead of today's action, along with his best bets.

PDC World Championship 2025 betting tips

Ryan Joyce vs Ryan Searle

It’s the battle of the Ryans to kick things off on Saturday afternoon and I do find myself agreeing with the market here, who have Searle a fairly solid 8/13 favourite to overcome his namesake Joyce.

It’s never wise to discount the Geordie too lightly, particularly given his big stage pedigree in recent months. However, his two performances at Ally Pally thus far have been pretty unspectacular numerically, producing two averages of virtually 93 to dispose of Darius Labanauskas and Danny Noppert.

Of course, the latter is an impressive scalp indeed, though it’s fair to point out that the Freeze was unusually chilly on the outer ring in that clash, converting just 8/28 double attempts for a miserly 27% strike rate.

Joyce, typically, was up around the 50% mark on his finishing. Can he repeat that level time and again? Without doubt — but I feel his scoring phase has to see a dramatic improvement too if he is to trouble Searle here.

Heavy Metal was majestic in sweeping aside Matt Campbell last Sunday in a performance which probably hasn’t been talked about enough.

He won nine out of 10 legs versus the capable Canadian, plundered in four 180s and, just like Joyce, doubled at around a 50% success rate.

Crucially though, Searle strolled to victory with an average 10 points higher than Joyce did and it feels like a level the Somerset-born slinger can sustain without too much strain.

Questions undoubtedly remain over Searle’s ability to close out big matches, with a painful Euro Tour final loss to Martin Schindler earlier this year doing little to quash such narratives.

Yet this is a man who is now in his seventh Ally Pally campaign and I do believe the 37-year-old still has his best years ahead of him in the biggest events.

Searle needs to take a leaf out of Gerwyn Price’s book and focus on his enjoyment of the sport again because if he can relax enough to win a big title, the floodgates could easily open for him just like they have for the likes of Michael Smith, Jonny Clayton and Peter Wright in the past.

This particular contest looks sure to be played in a good spirit and I think a good way to play it is backing Searle to win it while also hitting the most 180s.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that pitched at odds against, so the 21/20 on offer is a  two-point win bet for me.

Best bet - Ryan Searle to win and hit most 180s vs Ryan Joyce - 21/20 (Bet365)

Scott Williams vs Ricardo Pietreczko

Scott Williams has taken to the Ally Pally stage like a duck to water over the last two World Championships, with his 3-1 victory over Rob Cross last week only further displaying the immense mix of quality, composure and confidence he is able to consistently produce on the biggest platform of all.

Like him or hate him, Shaggy is the ultimate showman and he is rapidly becoming one of those rare players where the formbook can effectively be thrown out of the window in a positive manner ahead of this tournament — you just know he’s going to raise his game.

If last year’s dramatic 4-3 win over Martin Schindler is anything to go by, he’ll be desperately trying to frame today’s last 32 clash as an England versus Germany narrative to get the crowd firmly onside against Ricardo Pietreczko.

Most, including the market, had this fixture marked down as Cross vs Gian van Veen before a dart was thrown but make no mistake, these two are here on merit and can put on an equally absorbing contest.
Pietreczko enters as an 11/8 outsider but I’d doubt that will bother him one bit, having been 5/2 last time out when dropping just four legs en route to dumping out the well-fancied Gian van Veen.

He’s another one who polarises fan opinion but again, I have Pikachu down as a big-stage player who thrives in these type of environments.

It’ll be hard for him to ever have a worse year on the floor, mind. The 30-year-old didn’t reach a single quarter-final on the Pro Tour despite attending all 30 events, which is quite obscene for a player of his talent.

Yet like Williams, there’s no point dwelling on such dire statistics as he quite simply brings his best game to the big stage — this year’s highlights including Euro Tour semi-final and runner-up efforts as well as a run to the European Championship quarter-finals.

As for this as a contest, the market favours Williams but I’m inclined to take a chance on the underdog here.

Shaggy’s performance levels dipped off quite dramatically against his good mate Cross when you dig into the numbers, which could just be due to the circumstances of facing a friend.

However, some turgid scoring from Voltage for extended periods effectively handed him the contest and I fear Williams’ struggles on both the 180-hitting and doubling fronts could prove a bit of a confidence-drainer.

Pietreczko, meanwhile, clearly enjoyed playing the role of spoiler last time out and with plenty of Germans in attendance, he may just be able to send them home happy.

Best bet - Ricardo Pietreczko to win - 11/8 (Star Sports)

Nathan Aspinall vs Andrew Gilding

It was sad to see Nathan Aspinall struggling so much with his game but he did at least manage to stumble over the line against Leonard Gates to avoid a second straight pre-Christmas exit from Ally Pally.

The former UK Open and World Matchplay champ has had some well documented battles with his throw, which he has finally recently described as dartitis, that continue to plague him — if not in terms of quality, then certainly in terms of energy expanded during a match.

Further to that, the Asp was also battling a bad bout of man flu against Gates, so some excuses can be made for a drab showing which saw him hit only 13 scores of 140 or better in 18 legs of darts.

Regardless of how he feels now, much better will be required here against Andrew Gilding, who caused a minor surprise in dumping out the in-form Martin Lukeman 3-1 in his opener.

Goldfinger was technically the seeded player in that contest but came in as a 7/5 underdog, eventually powering to the line with an impressive last set to seal the win.

I must admit, it was a frustrating end for me to watch having backed under 5.5 180s in the match at a nice price. Lukeman didn’t manage one in the entire game and Gilding was on just two heading into the final set, before producing four in as many legs! You’ve got to laugh.

Seriously though, Aspinall won’t have been laughing about his performance and you could sense a huge amount of frustration in his post-match press conference.

His plan at that point was to get on the practice board with good friend Michael Smith over Christmas, though it’s questionable how much that will have actually happened given Smith was subsequently dumped out by Kevin Doets.

If both Aspinall and Gilding are at their usual standards, you’d heavily favour the Asp, yet I have no intention of backing the likeable Stockport star at 1/2.

As mentioned, Gilding smashed in six maximums against Lukeman, while Aspinall managed only half of that total across the same amount of sets. So, seeing Aspinall at 1/2 to win today’s 180 count and Gilding out at 16/5 feels like a betting opportunity.

I’ll also chuck a point on Gilding to win the match and hit the most 180s at a monstrous 15/2. I’d love my fears about Aspinall to be proved wrong but when you think you see an opportunity, it does have to be pounced upon.

Best bet - Andrew Gilding to hit the most 180s - 16/5 (Betfair)

Chris Dobey vs Josh Rock

A mouthwatering game to start the evening session as power scorers Chris Dobey and Josh Rock lock horns.

These pair find themselves in the wide open third quarter, where opportunity knocks for all of those remaining. Particularly the winner of this one, though, given one of Kevin Doets and Krzysztof Ratajski will be waiting in the last 16.

Dobey has had a poor time of things on the television in recent months but will have been relieved to banish those demons with a convincing 3-1 win over Alexander Merkx.

Hollywood posted a 96 average despite his doubling being way down at 25%, which tells you how well the Geordie was scoring. Regular followers of my content will know I rate Dobey as one of the most rounded players in the game, so I do expect to see that outer ring performance improve here.

Rock made lighter work of Rhys Griffin in terms of the scoreline but wasn’t at his fluent best, posting just an 87 average despite doubling at nearly 40%.

With the Northern Irishman, I’d rather see him in good form on the doubles as his scoring capabilities are undoubtedly his strongest asset — he’s unlikely to stay subdued in that area for too long.

I’ve backed Dobey both for this quarter and in the outright market, so on a personal note, this is an important clash. However, I can’t quite find a bet to put up here without forcing it a tad.

I expect 180s, but so does the market. The line is set at 15.5, which could easily look foolish if the game goes deep. Yet it’s a sizeable amount to rack up if you get any less than six sets.

In terms of a winner, you’d think Dobey should prevail but again, it wouldn’t be said with confidence. Hollywood has won this year’s two encounters between the pair but Rock did nab Euro Tour and Grand Slam victories over him in 2023.

All in all, this could be a cracker but I’m advising a watching brief.

Best bet - No bet

Matt Hill's best PDC World Championship darts bets for Saturday December 28, 2024

• 2pts - Ryan Searle to win and hit the most 180s - 23/20 (Bet365
• 1pt - Ricardo Pietreczko to beat Scott Williams - 11/8 (Star Sports
• 2pts - Andrew Gilding to hit the most 180s - 16/5 (Betfair)
• 1pt - Andrew Gilding to win and hit the most 180s - 15/2 (Betfair)
• 2pts - Brendan Dolan over 3.5 180s - 13/10 (BoyleSports)
• 2pts - Ian White +3.5 sets vs Luke Littler - 5/4 (BetVictor)
• 1pt - Luke Littler 4-1 Ian White correct score - 3/1 (Betfred)