Luke Littler is out to silence his critics at the European Championship

European Championship 2026: Darts predictions, betting tips and preview for the ITV4-televised event in Germany

Darts

Thu October 22, 2026 · 2h ago

The ITV4-televised European Championship takes place in Dortmund from Thursday to Sunday and our Chris Hammer brings you his quarter-by-quarter preview and tips.

Darts betting tips: European Championship

This preview was written before Thursday's news that Luke Humphries withdrew to illness, so the advised odds will have changed

5pts Luke Littler to win the European Championship at 6/5 (Sky Bet)

1pt each-way James Wade to win the European Championship at 25/1 (General 1/2 1,2)

1pt each-way Wessel Nijman to win the European Championship at 25/1 (Paddy Power, Sky Bet 1/2 1,2)

Night one acca: 1pt Woodhouse, Zonneveld, Price & Wade at 13/2 (Sky Bet)

Night two acca: 1pt Reyes, Doets & Nijman all to win at 11/2 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

With Dartsmas drawing ever closer, the next stop on the road to Ally Pally is the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund for the European Championship, where Luke Littler is bidding to create another piece of history. Or should I say giant slab of history.

Because should he lift the trophy then he'll become the youngest player ever to complete a full set of PDC major trophies in an already mind-boggling career that's only coming to the end of its third season.

Michael van Gerwen was 26 when he completed the same set of majors that are available to Littler - although his span of collecting them all was also remarkably short from October 2012 to November 2015.

Phil Taylor didn't actually manage to win the lot due to the World Series of Darts Finals eluding him, but to be fair the event was first staged in 2015 when his career was starting to come to an end and he only had two attempts at it.

Apart from this legendary trio, nobody else has come close to winning the full set so the fact that Littler even has a shot at this achievement at the age of just 19 is nothing short of astonishing.

However, relatively speaking Littler is enduring a bit of a sticky patch.

Back in September his hopes of becoming the first player in history to win every major in a calendar year came to an end at the World Series Finals while he also crashed out in the first round of the World Grand Prix and missed out on a place in the World Youth Championship final.

And, since he averaged an astonishing 111 during his rampant World Matchplay campaign back in July, he's strangely 'only' averaged over 100 in seven of his last 28 matches in all competitions. More recently, that statistic becomes one in his last 13.

Considering his seasonal average is still above 101, it is fair to be a little concerned that his average since the start of September is 96.70. That's less than four other players in the world of darts right now including a certain Mitchell Lawrie, who could well turn out to be his biggest rival in years to come once he's joined the PDC.

Netflix must be sweating somewhat at the possibility of an amateur taking £501,000 off them at next weekend's Beat Luke Littler show so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the reason they've left it until this week to finalise the line-up of 20 from their short list of 100. Maybe they've taken a safety first approach!

Littler to defy struggles

But let's not get carried away here. Every sports person who's ever walked the earth - no matter how dominant - has experienced a few bumps in the road.

This slump in form means punters get a rare opportunity to back Littler at odds-against prices and much will be made of him playing in front of his least favourite group of fans - the Germans!

However, he defied any issues they have with each other to win a Premier League night in Berlin back in March while he teamed up with Luke Humphries to lift the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.

Personally, I'd be more surprised to see his struggles continue for a third successive major than for him to bounce back and do what he does best, and for that reason I'll take Sky Bet's tournament Price Boost for him become European champion at 6/5.

Here's more thoughts on the rest of the tournament...

Quarter One

(1) Ross Smith v (32) Karel Sedlacek
(16) James Wade v (17) Damon Heta
(8) Gian van Veen v (25) Andrew Gilding
(9) Luke Woodhouse v (24) Dirk van Duijvenbode

If you find yourself in the first quarter of a major tournament draw then you'd normally be resigned to running into Luke Littler along the way but thankfully for these eight, the European Tour wasn't very high on the Nuke's priority list this season.

Former European champion Ross Smith heads to Dortmund as the top seed having picked up a couple of titles this year in Riesa and Budapest while his confidence and status was further boosted when picking up his second major title at the World Series Finals last month.

Luke Woodhouse is another viable threat to come through this quarter having impressed greatly in 2026. Not only has he won the first two PDC ranking titles of his career this season - including one on the European Tour - but he stunned Littler at the World Grand Prix and is also boasting lofting averages, particularly in the second half of 2026.

Gian van Veen may not have won any PDC titles this season but he's enjoyed some lengthy run in the majors including semi-final runs at the World Matchplay, Masters and World Series Finals.

He also hit the headlines at the weekend when averaging an astronomical 120.24 in a European Tour victory over Sebastian Bialecki, only to bow out to Danny Noppert in the semi-finals.

However my pick to come through this quarter and potential mount a run to the final is JAMES WADE.

The phrase 'rolling back the years' doesn't fit that well with someone who's relatively young in the world of darts and you could even say the standard that the Machine is producing these days is actually better than at previous high points in his career.

At the World Grand Prix, Wade claimed he is the second best player of all time from a longevity perspective and that's something Paul Nicholson agreed with in a thought-provoking Sporting Life column.

He wrote: "I think his mentality’s changed since he had kids. And I believe that's his biggest motivation at the minute. He wants to provide for his boys. He wants to provide for his family unit to make sure that they don't have to worry about money for the rest of their life, and he's doing a really good job of that. And it's probably the biggest motivation he's ever had.

"Throw in the fact he’s desperate to reach a World Championship final, it’s a potent mix that will ensure he’s going to stick around at the top for many years to come. And that’s what we must remember. His story is far from finished. I've said on record that I don't think he's going to win a world title.

"But now I’m starting to eat my words because he's going to go into the tournament this year as one of the favourites."

Wade may not have won a major title since 2021 but he’s reached three finals in the last two years – losing them all to Luke Littler – and reaching a further five quarter-finals and one semi.

This has helped him climb well inside the world's top 10 once again while the titles he's picked up on the European Tour and Players Championship Tours this season prove his winning mentality is strong.

Verdict: James Wade to win the quarter and worth backing each-way for the title

Quarter Two

(4) Niels Zonneveld v (29) Cameron Menzies
(13) Gerwyn Price v (20) Rob Cross
(5) Danny Noppert v (28) Stephen Bunting
(12) Luke Humphries v (21) Ryan Searle

THIS SECTION WAS WRITTEN BEFORE LUKE HUMPHRIES WITHDREW DUE TO ILLNESS AND REPLACED BY KIM HUYBRECHTS

This is certainly the quarter of death, and I'm struggling to decide whether it'll be Gerwyn Price or Luke Humphries lining up in the semi-finals.

Obviously there's other viable contenders in the mix - not least Niels Zonneveld who won the last European Tour event of the season to claim his maiden PDC ranking title.

Zonneveld has made great strides this year so it wasn't too much of a surprise to see him enter the winners' enclosure and if he sees off Cameron Menzies, then Price - or Rob Cross - will have a tricky test on their hands.

The Iceman has been in great form on the major stages this season, finishing runner-up in the World Matchplay, World Series and World Grand Prix while he's also reached the semi-finals of three others.

Humphries extended Price's wait to win a first major since 2022 when defeating him in the World Grand Prix final and that in turn ended Cool Hand's own drought dating back to the 2025 Premier League.

If Littler's troubles continue then both players will view this as a golden opportunity to get another big title on the board and I'm going to give the slight edge to Humphries to come through this quarter.

Verdict: Luke Humphries to win the quarter

Quarter Three

(2) Wessel Nijman v (31) Martin Schindler
(15) Ryan Joyce v (18) Jermaine Wattimena
(7) Jonny Clayton v (26) Niko Springer
(10) Josh Rock v (23) Chris Dobey

WESSEL NIJMAN is the marginal favourite ahead of Jonny Clayton to come through this quarter as he attempts to finally fulfil his potential on the big stage.

The Dutchman has won eight titles this season - including two on the European Tour - but he's yet to reach a quarter-final or better in any of the major tournaments he's entered since joining the PDC in 2024.

That is bound to change very soon as his experience begins to complement the rich talents that he so often demonstrates away from the live TV cameras.

Clayton is one of the primary reasons he hasn't gone far in the majors this season having knocked him out in the early stages of both the Masters and the World Grand Prix, so Nijman will certainly be out for revenge if their paths cross in the quarter-finals.

The draw has been relatively kind to Nijman and if he can get some confidence under his belt against Martin Schindler and either Ryan Joyce or Jermaine Wattimena then this could well be the weekend we see his major breakthrough.

And you never know, if Luke Littler struggles to fire again then Nijman could well end up in the final and for that reason I feel he's worth an each-way poke.

Verdict: Wessel Nijman to win the quarter and a good each-way shout for the title in the bottom half of the draw if Littler's troubles continue

Quarter Four

(3) Krzysztof Ratajski v (30) Dave Chisnall
(14) Kevin Doets v (19) Michael van Gerwen
(6) Nathan Aspinall v (27) Cristo Reyes
(11) Luke Littler v (22) William O'Connor

Having already made my case for Luke Littler to win the title, I don't really need to labour too much on this quarter other than to explain why Kevin Doets and Cristo Reyes are in my night two accumulator.

Doets has enjoyed a superb season having won his maiden PDC title in a Players Championship event while he also reached a European Tour final for the first time in Austria, losing narrowly to Josh Rock.

Although he's not had much joy in the majors, the fact he's qualified for more of them than ever this year firmly underlines his progress and he'll hope to add to Michael van Gerwen's woes on his European Championship debut.

Doets' average of 96.83 since the start of September is considerably higher than MVG's 93.30 in the same timeframe and it's no real surprise to see him priced as marginal favourite.

As for Reyes, he's been playing some fantastic darts on the Pro Tour this season and his average of 97.85 since the start of September is higher than anyone, and it won't be long before we see him qualifying for more majors in this second chapter of his career.

Nathan Aspinall would be well fancied to enjoy a big run here if he wasn't due to play Littler in round two, but his run could be halted earlier if Reyes maintains his recent form.

Verdict: Luke Littler to win the quarter and go on and win the title

European Championship: Daily Schedule

Thursday October 22 (1800-2200 BST)
Round One x8

Luke Woodhouse v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert v Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld v Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross
James Wade v Damon Heta
Kim Huybrechts * v Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen v Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith v Karel Sedlacek

Kim Huybrechts has replaced Luke Humphries

Friday October 23 (1800-2200 BST)
Round One x8

Ryan Joyce v Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski v Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall v Cristo Reyes
Jonny Clayton v Niko Springer
Luke Littler v William O'Connor
Wessel Nijman v Martin Schindler
Kevin Doets v Michael van Gerwen
Josh Rock v Chris Dobey

Saturday October 24
Afternoon Session (1200-1600 BST)
Round Two x4 – order of games TBC

Smith/Sedlacek v Wade/Heta
Van Veen/Gilding v Woodhouse/Van Duijvenbode
Zonneveld/Menzies v Price/Cross
Noppert/Bunting v Huybrechts/Searle

Evening Session (1800-2200 BST)
Round Two x4 – order of games TBC

Nijman/Schindler v Joyce/Wattimena
Clayton/Springer v Rock/Dobey
Ratajski/Chisnall v Doets/Van Gerwen
Aspinall/Reyes v Littler/O'Connor

Sunday October 25
Afternoon Session (1200-1600 GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1800-2200 GMT)

Semi-Finals
Final

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European Championship 2026: Darts predictions, betting tips and preview for the ITV4-televised event in Germany

Darts betting tips: European Championship

Night one acca: 1pt Woodhouse, Zonneveld, Price & Wade at 13/2 (Sky Bet)