PDC World Championship darts: Day 10 predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

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The Christmas break is over, with 32 players returning to the Ally Pally over the next few days to resume their quest to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3.

Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright are among the 12 in action today across two sessions of three matches each and our tipster Chris Hammer is back to preview the lot.

At the very bottom of this match-by-match guide are Carl Fletcher's graphics of every player's season stats as well as an additional one to chart how successful they've all been in achieving the 'Match Treble' in all their PDC matches this year (winning with the most 180s and highest checkouts).

World Championship: Sunday December 27

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts (1200 & 1800 GMT)
• Third Round: Best of 7 sets, no tie-breakers in any set

Sunday darts accas

• Ratajski to win & Whitlock hit most 180s, Searle to win & Wattimena (+1.5 sets) to win at 12/1
• Clayton to win and MVG to win with Evans hitting most 180s at 4/1
• Click here to build your acca

AFTERNOON SESSION (1200 GMT)

Krzysztof Ratajski (8/11) v Simon Whitlock (11/10)

• Head to Head: 1-2
• 2020 Meetings: 1-0
• PDC Titles this Season: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 7-14 (TV: 0-1)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 3-12
• PDC World Championship Best: Third Round (2020) - Runner-Up (2010)

Based on world rankings and titles won over the past couple of years, Krzysztof Ratajski is a fair marginal favourite, but on current form there'll be no shortage of darts fans giving the edge to Simon Whitlock in this one.

The Australian last tasted tournament success of any kind way back in 2017 while the Polish Eagle has picked up seven since the start of 2018, including one earlier this year, and has widely expected to embark on a lengthy major run sooner than later.

However, since reaching the World Matchplay quarter-finals like Whitlock did, he's suffered early round defeats in all the subsequent televised tournaments while the Wizard, by start contrast, has seriously threatened to win two of them - the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts - by going as far as the semi-finals.

Whitlock, who beat Michael van Gerwen in all the aforementioned majors, showed yet more signs of revival at the age of 51 by posting a 101 average in his opening round win over Darius Labauskas - in which he hammered in 10 maximums - although Ratajski wasn't far behind with a mark of 100 in a whitewash victory over the equally dangerous Ryan Joyce.

Ratajski probably just needed a rest after a the hectic schedule of darts over the last couple of months and if the pair can maintain these kind of levels then we could be in for a cracking high-quality contest that goes deep.

• Score Prediction: 4-3
• Suggested Bets: Match to have over 20.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 121.5 and over 11.5 total 180s at evens, Ratajski to win and Whitlock hit most 180s at 15/8

Kim Huybrechts (1/1) v Ryan Searle (4/5)

• Head to Head: 2-1
• 2020 Meetings: 1-0
• PDC Titles this Season: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 4-1 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 9-2
• PDC World Championship Best: Quarter-final (2012) - Fourth Round (2019)

The downside about Ryan Searle still being here is that he took care of one of my quarter tips in Jeffrey de Zwaan last time out - but that was good news for those who followed Carl Fletcher's 'outsiders to follow' instead. Every cloud!

Quietly spoken 'Heavy Metal' averaged 98 in a 3-2 triumph over plucky outsider Danny Lauby in his opening contest before defying De Zwaan's barrage of 180s to trounce him 3-0 with an average of 93 that was five points lower than his opponent's 98.

The difference was obviously his far superior finishing, which included a stunning 130 checkout that clinched a match-turning second set just when it looked liked De Zwaan was poised to break Searle's throw and seize the momentum.

Kim Huybrechts reminded us why he was a Premier League player back in the day by posting a pair of 100+ averages against Di Zhuang (104.05) and Ian White (101.59) so he'll be brimming with confidence ahead of a huge winnable opportunity for both players.

The Belgian has now managed three 100+ averages in World Championship history which is no mean feat considering some great players, including James Wade, have never managed it once and he'll probably have to go close again if he's to deny the highly-rated Searle, who is bidding to match his fourth-round run of two years ago.

Huybrechts may not have been put under any pressure against Di Zhuang but he responded brilliantly to White's 102 average in a 3-1 victory in which he pinned 50% of his doubles and threw eight 180s.

• Score Prediction: 3-4
• Suggested Bet: Searle to win and Huybrechts hit most 180s at 7/2

Dimitri Van den Bergh (2/7) v Jermaine Wattimena (13/5)

• Head to Head: 1-3
• 2020 Meetings: 0-0
• PDC Titles this Season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 1-0 (TV: 1-0)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 5-6
• PDC World Championship Best: Quarter Final (2018, 2020) - Third Round (2019)

Jermaine Wattimena was a 28/1 pre-tournament quarter selection for both Carl Fletcher and I but this is his first proper test of his credentials against the World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.

The Machine Gun blew hot and cold during a battling 3-1 victory over Nick Kenny in the second round, with the highlight be a stupendous 156 checkout to complete a 12-dart break of throw in the second set, but that was nothing compared to Van den Bergh's brutal 3-0 demolition of Paul Lim, in which he averaged 106, threw six 180s and pinned almost 53% of his doubles.

Nevertheless, the Belgian is also has consistency issues - as we saw with early exits at the World Grand Prix, World Series of Darts Finals and Players Championship Finals despite his Matchplay heroics and a brilliant semi-final run at the Grand Slam of Darts.

It really is hard to predict which version will show up and that's probably the main thing lacking from him at this point of his career to reach the very top - the ability to churn out the 100+ averages time and time again like his former 'landlord' Peter Wright.

Purely for selfish reasons I'm hoping he has an off day which will give the fast-throwing Wattimena the chances to make this a lot closer than the bookies are expecting, and potentially cause a mini upset.

• Score Prediction: 3-4
• Suggested Bet: Wattimena (+1.5 sets) to win at 6/4

EVENING SESSION (1800 GMT)

Joe Cullen (8/11) v Jonny Clayton (11/10)

• Head to Head: 5-2
• 2020 Meetings: 1-2
• PDC Titles this Season: 2-1 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 5-4 (TV: 0-1)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 10-4
• PDC World Championship Best: Second Round/Last 32 (2017) - Third Round (2020)

This is one of the closest matches to call of the entire third round as two players threatening to launch into the world's top 10 sooner than later meet for a potentially pivotal clash in their respective careers.

Joe Cullen is marginal favourite thanks to his two titles this year and a pair of quarter-final runs at the World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals, where he started to look more of a potential major contender than ever before only to lose agonisingly 10-9 to Gerwyn Price in a thriller.

The Rockstar's comfortable 3-0 victory over Wayne Jones before Christmas was just his second victory on this stage in 11 Ally Pally appearances so maybe this is more evidence that the behind closed doors major setting is actually playing into his hands.

Jonny Clayton hasn't been bothered by a lack of atmosphere having won the World Cup with Gerwyn Price without any fans although his second major semi-final run of the season - the European Championship - was played in front of a small crowd, while his first at the UK Open back in March was obviously before the world came to an end.

Stats wise, Cullen averaged 95 against Jones and hit six 180s while managed a very mediocre 91 and fired in just three maximums during a rather lethargic 3-1 triumph over John Henderson, but he obviously has plenty more in his locker than that.

The Ferret's seasonal average is over a point higher than Cullen's with 95.73 but the main difference between the pair is Clayton's fantastic rate of hitting 100+ checkouts - doing so in 15.50% of his legs this season. That's higher than any other Tour Card holder in 2020 and makes Cullen's 10% look very ordinary.

With potentially a lot of legs to be played in a tight encounter, it seems well worth backing Clayton to manage another couple - or more - at odds-against prices.

• Score Prediction: 3-4
• Suggested Bet: Jonny Clayton to hit two or more 100+ checkouts at 6/4

Peter Wright (2/7) v Gabriel Clemens (13/5)

• Head to Head: 2-2
• 2020 Meetings: 1-0
• PDC Titles this Season: 6-0 (TV: 2-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 34-0 (TV: 8-0)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 11-2
• PDC World Championship Best: Champion (2020) - Second Round (2019)

It feels like Peter Wright's portrayal of the Grinch was as long ago as 2019 but after a relatively relaxing Christmas at home, he's now back to resume his title quest and the pursuit of the coveted world number one spot.

Snakebite made the most of his opportunity of being able to entertain some fans on opening night with his walk-on, but the standard of his darts against Steve West was pretty tame by his own high standards apart from a couple of 100+ checkouts, including a 144 in the one set that he lost.

Wright averaged 92.6 and another performance like that - or even one of those strangely poor displays that we've seen come out of the blue on TV this season - could leave the door ajar for Gabriel Clemens to cause an upset.

The German has lost both of their previous TV meetings - the final of the 2019 German Darts Masters when he first properly burst onto the scene and this winter's European Championship - while he's yet to consistently showcase his talents on the big stages, but there were signs of promise in a high-class 3-1 win over Nico Kurz which means he's appearing post Christmas here for the first time.

He averaged 95.7, hit six 180s, a couple of 100+ checkouts and converted 46% of his doubles - so can he maintain this over a longer best-of-seven set format?

Although I am expecting Wright to come through this test, Clemens can push the defending champion hard enough over enough legs to help him achieve the player performance targets below.

• Score Prediction: 4-2
• Suggested Bet: Peter Wright to win the match, score over 5.5 180s and checkout over 107.5 at 11/10

Michael van Gerwen (1/20) v Ricky Evans (9/1)

• Head to Head: 9-1
• 2020 Meetings: 0-0
• PDC Titles this Season: 5-0 (TV: 2-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 138-0 (TV: 55-0)
• PDC World Championship Appearances: 13-5
• PDC World Championship Best: Winner (2014, 2017, 2019) - Third Round (2020)

It's hard enough to make a case for Ricky Evans to win a couple of sets against Michael van Gerwen, let alone the match - although that's no disrespect to the lovable Kettering thrower.

Not only is this a repeat of last year's third-round meeting, which van Gerwen won 4-0, but recent form suggests the Dutchman has saved his best form of the year - as well as some much needed consistency - for when it matters most.

Having recently won the Players Championship Finals, he came out all guns blazing to beat Ryan Murray 3-1 with an average of 109 before Christmas and there's no doubt all this talk about potentially losing his world number one spot to either Peter Wright or Gerwyn Price has stoked his fires.

Indeed, this is the first time for many years that he's had to fight for a status he's held since 2014 and there's obviously not an active player on the planet who knows what this pressure is like.

There'll be no shortage of fans expecting a whitewash tonight but bare in mind Evans did take three of last year's four sets to deciding legs and even Murray managed to pinch one despite the onslaught he was up against.

Evans did fire in six maximums compared to MVG's three during a 3-1 triumph over Mickey Mansell - averaging 93.61 in the process - while both players managed a steady 180 per leg ratio of 0.24 this season.

There may therefore be some value in backing the underdog to hit most 180s in a defeat at 11/8

• Score Prediction: 4-1
• Suggested Bet: MVG to win and Evans hit most 180s at 11/8

Season Statistics

To help you with your bets throughout the tournament, 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), while there is an additional graphic at the bottom charting each player’s frequency of bringing up the ‘Match Treble’ in PDC events this season. That is when they win, throw most 180s and hit the highest checkout. You can read more about Carl’s research on that by clicking here.

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.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT DRAW, RESULTS & SCHEDULE

More World Darts Championship content

• World Championship draw & schedule
• Chris Hammer's pre-tournament betting tips
• Carl Fletcher's 'what the stats say' preview
• Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally picks
• Carl Fletcher's Super Six Outsiders
• Carl Fletcher's Match Treble Masters
• James Cooper's Quarter masters
• Watch: All the World Championship nine-darters
• 2020 Premier League results
• 2020 PDC event calendar & results
• Sky Bet's darts odds