World Darts Championship: Friday matches, predictions, betting tips, odds, order of play & TV times

You wouldn't have expected many of the players in action today to have made it this far at the start of what's turned out to be a tournament of shocks, but now a quarter-final spot is within their grasp.

It's a potentially career-defining day for the likes of Devon Petersen while Rob Cross, Michael Smith, James Wade and Dave Chisnall are the biggest names hoping to dodge more upsets.

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World Darts Championship: Friday December 28

AFTERNOON SESSION

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
• Fourth Round: Best of seven sets

Nathan Aspinall (4/7) v Devon Petersen (11/8)

H2H: 1-3
2018 Meetings: 1-0
PDC Titles: 1-0
2018 Titles: 1-0

Before a dart was thrown, most darts fans looked at the bottom half of the draw and could sense there would be some surprise names weaving their way through.

Two of those have turned out to be Nathan Aspinall and Devon Petersen, who were both 1000/1 pre-tournament to become world champion, and while it's still highly unlikely either can complete the most unbelievable of stories, they are now one win away from a career-making spot in the quarter-finals.

Petersen has been underdog in all three of his matches so far but certainly hasn't been playing like a man ranked down at 70 in the world, especially during his comeback wins over Ian White and Steve West.

As mentioned in my preview for his match with West, one of the 'secrets' to the South African's success appears to have been a very recent training session with Wayne Mardle that has helped add consistency to his talents. He's sticking to the advice religiously and it's working a treat.

The 32-year-old is odds-against once more to see off Nathan Aspinall - the heroic conqueror of Gerwyn Price.

The Stockport man, five years Peterson's junior, fired himself up specifically for the challenge of the Grand Slam of Darts champion but then toned it down to his normal game to see off the much calmer - but no less talented - Kyle Anderson in the third round.

In both games Aspinall impressed with averages in the 90s while he showed great timing and maturity to defeat Anderson 4-1 thanks to winning key legs at the key times despite being outscored.

It's so tough to call and you shouldn't read too much into the season as a whole before this, which saw Aspinall claim a maiden PDC Tour title, because a new Petersen appears to have turned up at Alexandra Palace.

Prediction: 3-4

Benito Van de Pas (7/4) v Brendan Dolan (4/9)

H2H: 3-2
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 3-5
2018 Titles: 0-0

Well, without wanting to sound too harsh, I'm not expecting this one to be the tie of the day.

Brendan Dolan's presence in the fourth round won't have filled too many fans with excitement - apart from those who backed him at a big price to win this quarter of the draw - while Benito van de Pas' performance to see off Toni Alcinas was nothing short of arduous.

Both players will see this a tremendous opportunity to reach the quarter-finals and it would represent a particularly superb effort for the slow-throwing Dolan, who hasn't done much to shout about in recent times.

The 45-year-old from Northern Ireland, nicknamed the History Maker, knocked out one of my pre-tournament tips Joe Cullen in the second round for the loss of just one leg while he upset the odds again to end Mervyn King's 23rd consecutive World Championship.

He now finds himself as marginal favourite to see off a player who has battled past two underdogs in Jim Long (dramatically so!) and Alcinas in drawn-out affairs and I can't see this one being over too quickly either.

I'm going for van de Pas at 7/4 while the 11/10 about there being over 19.5 legs, a high checkout over 121.5 and more than 6.5 180s is worth a play.

Prediction: 4-3

Ryan Joyce (23/10) v James Wade (1/3)

H2H: 0-3
2018 Meetings: 0-3
PDC Titles: 0-30
2018 Titles: 0-2

I now have a real soft spot for Ryan Joyce following my time down at the World Championship and the affable Geordie will no doubt enjoy the lion's share of support for the biggest game of his career.

The 33-year-old's Alexandra Palace debut began with most fans wanting him to lose to Anastasia Dobromyslova but having survived that test he went on to thrash Simon Whitlock before coming from two sets down to defeat Alan Norris 4-3 in a titanic battle.

Joyce, who used to pack women's clothes at Matalan, has now earned more in these past couple of weeks than the entirety of his maiden PDC Tour season and it's hard to believe this is only his fourth televised tournament ever.

Since beating Norris, he's gone back home for his Christmas break and helped out at a youth tournament, even though you'd have thought all his spare time would have been taken with his own preparation to take on James Wade.

As much as it's be a great story for Joyce's dream run to continue, he'll need to up his game for a player of the calibre of the Machine, who has also won all three of their previous meetings this year in floor events.

Wade headed to the Alexandra Palace with a lot more backers than usual following his recent successes at the European Championship and World Series of Darts Finals although he made the headlines for all the wrong reasons during his dramatic victory over Seigo Asada.

But let's not dwell on that, because the Englishman since apologised and then came through a real battle to see off Keegan Brown from 3-1 down in sets.

Wade expressed his relief at being able to go home and spend his first Christmas with his baby boy Arthur knowing he'd be back to launch and assault at his first world title and he's a worthy favourite to get past Joyce.

It won't be an easy ride, however, and I think it's worth looking at over 5.5 sets at evens or even more than 6.5 sets at 7/2.

One thing's for sure though, Joyce will never be going back to Matalan to earn a wage.

Prediction: 2-4

EVENING SESSION

· TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

· Fourth Round: Best of seven sets

Ryan Searle (9/2) v Michael Smith (1/7)

H2H: 2-3
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 0-11
2018 Titles: 0-3

Although the headlines are predominantly saved for the biggest names, it's stories like Ryan Searle's which make the World Championship so special in my eyes.

The softly-spoken Somerset thrower, making his Alexandra Palace debut at the age of 31, arrived here ranked 61st in the world but has knocked out Mensur Suljovic during a career-changing run.

While that was a big upset, he also showed he could handle the pressure of those 'opportunity knocks' games in which both players really fancy their chances, running out a comfortable 4-1 winner over a flustered William O'Connor.

Searle will now surge up the Order of Merit with the £35,000 he's already banked but I doubt he'll earn any more money when he comes up against a player I've already backed to go all the way.

Michael Smith, who I tipped up at 16/1 pre-tournament, was in danger of being embroiled in a titanic third-round battle with John Henderson but after falling 2-1 behind in sets, he rallied to win nine of the next 10 legs to power through.

The Premier League and World Series of Darts Finals runner-up, who has won three titles this season, recorded an impressive average of 100, fired in nine 180s and converted almost 50% of his doubles and if he can reach similar levels against Searle then there's only one winner.

I'll back the St Helens man to win, score over 5.5 180s and have a checkout of over 111.5 at 11/10.

Prediction: 1-4

Jamie Lewis (11/8) v Dave Chisnall (4/7)

H2H: 0-6
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 0-12
2018 Titles: 0-0

Dave Chisnall's supporters may just be starting to get a little bit excited about the dreamy prospect of their man finally ending his wait for a televised title on the biggest stage of all.

Chizzy is one win away from reaching his third major quarter-final of the season and waiting for him is a potentially drained and vulnerable Gary Anderson, who has been taken the distance by both Jermaine Wattimena and Chris Dobey.

Even if he could overcome the Flying Scotsman - like he did at the World Series of Darts Finals last month - then he'll probably need to get past MVG to reach the final, but hey, there's no harm in positive thinking!

Having been a runner-up in four televised PDC tournaments during the peak years of his career, It would be ironic if the popular St Helens thrower can go the distance out of the blue when few saw it coming but maybe that's the best circumstances for a player like Chisnall, who has struggled with pressure in the past.

Anyway, we're getting well ahead of ourselves here because on Friday night he faces Jamie Lewis, who has saved his best performances for the Alexandra Palace stage - just like he did last year.

The Welshman, a semi-finalist 12 months ago, threw 12 180s in an epic 4-3 victory over Daryl Gurney last time out although his average of 93 would have been much higher had he not been so wasteful on his doubles.

Along with the nine he managed in round two, Lewis was the highest maximum hitter in the tournament prior to the fourth round while Chisnall would have hit more than his total of 12 had he not made such short work of Kim Huybrechts.

Since going 2-0 down in sets to Josh Payne, Chizzy has won 21 of the 29 legs he's played so he too is hitting his best form at the right time.

Over 16.5 180s is available at even money and that seems a pretty sound bet to throw into any multiples.

Prediction: 2-4

Rob Cross (1/4) v Luke Humphries (3/1)

H2H: 1-0
2018 Meetings: 1-0
PDC Titles: 7-3
2018 Titles: 2-0

Rob Cross couldn't have picked a better time to remind everyone of why he became world champion.

It's been a difficult 2018 for Voltage in the wake of reaching the pinnacle of the sport so much quicker than he could have ever imagined and he'd be the first to admit he perhaps wasn't ready for the scale of the tough and demanding schedule.

Nevertheless I tipped him at 22/1 - along with his potential quarter-final opponent Smith - on the logic that his season wasn't as bad as many pundits made out, he only has the best possible feelings of the Alexandra Palace stage and the fact he came through a very tough draw 12 months ago.

This time the Hastings man brilliantly defied Jeffrey de Zwaan's 106 average to come through a tricky opener 3-1 before destroying Cristo Reyes 4-0 with a 102 average that was helped by taking out 52% of his doubles.

He'll be well rested after the Christmas break to take on Luke Humphries, who surprisingly didn't have to break sweat to much to stun World Youth champion Dimitri van den Bergh 4-1 yesterday afternoon.

The 23-year-old from Newbury has proved just why he's regarded as one of the fastest rising stars of darts and looks completely at ease on the biggest stage of all despite his distinct lack of televised major experience.

Humphries averaging dropped just two sets, producing impressive averages and taking out at least 40% of his doubles in each of his three matches so far.

It's going to be an entertaining end to the night but I think Cross will have too much in his locker. I'll take the 6/4 on him to win the match, score over 5.5 180s and have a checkout of over 110.5.

Prediction: 4-2

Suggested Acca

• Petersen, van de Pas, Chisnall & Cross (-1.5 sets) at 14/1

Schedule for the rest of the tournament

Saturday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Aspinall/Petersen v Van de Pas/Dolan
• J Lewis/Chisnall v Gary Anderson

Evening Session (1900)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Cross/Humphries v Searle/M Smith
• Michael van Gerwen v Joyce/Wade

Sunday December 30
Evening Session
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Semi-Finals (Best of 11 sets)

Tuesday January 1
Evening Session (1900)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Final (Best of 13 sets)

Full World Championship draw and schedule

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