World Darts Championship: Sunday's quarter-finals preview, predictions, odds, betting tips, stats, order of play & TV times

• Follow @ChrisHammer180 on Twitter
• Outright World Championship betting tips
• Play Fantasy Darts prediction game

And then there were eight.

All four quarter-finals take place today and the odds suggest the winners will be Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price. But will it be as simple as that?

AFTERNOON SESSION

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
• Quarter-finals: Best of 9 sets
• Full World Championship draw & schedule

Nathan Aspinall (8/15) v Dimitri Van den Bergh (6/4)

• Head-to-head: 3-0
  2019 Meetings: 2-0
  PDC Titles this season: 2-0
• Routes to the QFs
  Aspinall: Baggish (3-1), Ratajski (4-3), Anderson (4-2)
  Van den Bergh: Payne (3-0), Woodhouse (4-2), Lewis (4-3)
• Key tournament stats (Aspinall first)
  Average: 97.58 - 96.71
  Best Ave: 97.42 (v Anderson) - 103.81 (v Payne)
  180s: 24 - 15
  100+ checkouts: 4 - 7
  Highest checkout: 116 - 128
  Doubles: 44/108 (41%) - 39/93 (42%)
  Legs won/lost: 44/33 - 39/29

It's the hope that kills you, isn't it?

That's how I'll be feeling if my sole surviving outright tip Nathan Aspinall falls at this stage having so far looked every bit of a potential champion. In my totally unbiased opinion of course.

Obviously if the Stockport man does win he'll still have to beat Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals to ensure some kind of payout - unless Darius Labanauskas can cause one incredible shock later tonight - but he holds no fear for anyone and is ready for such a test.

It's amazing to think this time last year he was making his way to the semi-finals on debut as a 500/1 rank outsider yet now finds himself as favourite to get to the same stage on the back of an impressive run that hasn't really shocked anyone.

Aspinall's route to get here has been tough, too. A nervy opener against Danny Baggish was followed by a tense yet high-quality 4-3 victory over the dangerous Krzysztof Ratajski and then he saved his best for Gary Anderson in a compelling showdown on Friday night.

He branded that the greatest performance of his career despite enjoying magical performance to win the UK Open and US Darts Masters during a stardom reaching 2019 that has helped grow his mental strength for these huge matches.

My pre-tournament interview with the Asp has more on all that and he's certainly backing up those words on the oche.

Dimitri Van den Bergh was outstanding against Josh Payne, sloppy against an unwell Luke Woodhouse and a bit of both in a game of two halves against Adrian Lewis.

Fortunately for the young Belgian he saved his best for the second half against Jackpot as he won nine of the last 12 legs to advance 4-3 in a thriller.

These two rising stars have never met on a major stage before although the Asp has won all their other three meetings on the floor, and the last of those in June he went on to reach a final.

Aspinall has obviously enjoyed the superior season and the evidence suggests he'll be better equipped to produce greater consistency over a best of nine format on this big stage for longer periods.

As the superior 180 hitter, the 5/4 for him to win with most maximums seems a safe call.

Prediction: 5-3

Luke Humphries (7/4) v Peter Wright (4/9)

• Head-to-head: 0-0
  2019 Meetings: 0-0
  PDC Titles this season: 0-4
• Routes to the QFs
  Humphries: Petersen (3-1), Wattimena (3-2), Kurz (4-2), Huybrechts (4-1)
  Wright: Malicdem (3-2), Asada (4-2), de Zwaan (4-3)
• Key tournament stats (Humphries first)
  Average: 94.5 - 95.82
  Best Ave: 97.7 (v Wattimena) - 96.53 (v Malicdem)
  180s: 31 - 29
  100+ checkouts: 7 - 10
  Highest checkout: 160 - 157
  Doubles: 53/124 (43%) - 51/107 (47.66%)
  Legs won/lost: 53/37 - 51/39

To say Peter Wright has made hard work of his quarter-final run is quite understatement yet he's still managed to produce moments of magic at times of pressure to get through every challenge.

Starring down the barrel of defeat against Noel Malicdem in a deciding set, Snakebite took out 302 in two inspired visits en route to a heart-stopping victory while he also needed to dig deep to see off another Asian Tour star in Seigo Asada.

Wright had hardly missed a double when moving one leg away from a 4-0 whitewash victory over Jeffrey de Zwaan last night but it took him about another hour before eventually falling over the finishing line 5-3 in a deciding set.

The 49-year-old admitted fatigue had got to him as the young Dutchman mounted his comeback so you have to hand it to him for finding the reserves from somewhere to claw it back when momentum was against him.

Wright added another four 100+ checkouts to his tournament high tally of 10 from just three matches while Luke Humphries has also weighed in with seven during his second successive venture to the quarter-finals.

The World Youth champion's only close call came during his fantastic victory over Jermaine Wattimena in round two, while last night he showed Kim Huybrechts no mercy after punishing him for a bullseye blunder.

You could argue that Humphries will be mentally fresher than Wright and will hope to make his opponent tire in another long contest.

I'd expect the quality of the 2014 runner-up, who has won four titles this year and reach two major finals, to shine through in the end but we should be in for plenty of maximums and high finishes.

The pair top the 180 charts with 31 and 29 respectively while they've also managed 17 100+ checkouts between them.

Prediction: 3-5

EVENING SESSION

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
• Quarter-finals: Best of 9 sets
• Full World Championship draw & schedule

Michael van Gerwen (1/33) v Darius Labanauskas (11/1)

• Head-to-head: 0-0
  2019 Meetings: 0-0
  PDC Titles this season: 14-0
• Routes to the QFs
  MVG: Klaasen (3-1), Evans (4-0), Bunting (4-0)
  Labanauskas: Edgar (3-0), White (3-1), Hopp (4-2), Beaton (4-2)
• Key tournament stats (MVG first)
  Average: 98.72 - 94.25
  Best Ave: 104.09 (v Bunting) - 96.31 (v White)
  180s: 18 - 12
  100+ checkouts: 6 - 1
  Highest checkout: 170 - 114
  Doubles: 35/78 (44.87%) - 46/98 (46.94%)
  Legs won/lost: 35/18 - 46/30

Michael van Gerwen has won 11 sets in a row at this World Championship since dropping his first against Jelle Klaasen a lifetime ago and the odds suggest he could quite comfortably make that 16.

The world number one can't ever have been as short as 1/33 to win a quarter-final at this level before while he's just 11/10 to whitewash 11/1 outsider Darius Labanaukskas.

It seems a tad harsh on the history-making Lithuanian who has pretty much breezed into the quarter-finals by beating four higher ranked players - three of which in the world's top 25.

He defied Ian White's average of 100 in the second round before two more dogged displays against Max Hopp and Steve Beaton helped him upset the odds yet again.

Labanaukskas may not be a heavy scorer but his finishing as been more clinical than anyone left in the tournament other than Peter Wright and that will be crucial in any set MVG goes off the boil.

Nobody needs me to tell them why the defending champion will win this match but his opponent is worth considering at 23/10 with a +3.5 set start on the handicap.

Prediction: 5-2

Glen Durrant (2/1) v Gerwyn Price (2/5)

• Head-to-head: 3-5
  2019 Meetings: 3-4
  PDC Titles this season: 2-5
• Routes to the QFs
  Durrant: Heta (3-0), Gurney (4-2), Dobey (4-3)
  Price: O'Connor (3-2), Henderson (4-0), Whitlock (4-2)
• Key tournament stats (Durrant first)
  Average: 95.86 - 95.88
  Best Ave: 97.94 (v Gurney) - 104.2 (v Henderson)
  180s: 14 - 13
  100+ checkouts: 7 - 5
  Highest checkout: 170 - 136
  Doubles: 38/87 (43.68%) - 36/84 (42.85%)
  Legs won/lost: 38/29 - 36/26

Anyone who lumped on Gerwyn Price to win the world title at the start of the tournament might not be feeling so confident right now and will be desperately hoping he's just pacing himself to peak when it matters most.

The two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion headed to the Ally Pally regarded as one half of a new "big two" after a series of blockbusting performances during the winter majors complemented a superb 2019 overall.

He really could have won more had it not been for his rival in chief Michael van Gerwen and the bookies duly priced up the 'dream' final at just 3/1.

However, Price has only produced one sparkling display so far when thrashing John Henderson 4-0 with an average of 104.2 but even that would have been closer had the Scotsman not missed 20 of his 24 darts at doubles.

The 34-year-old may not have even got that far if William O'Connor aimed for the right double in a second-round thriller while the less said about his match with Simon Whitlock the better.

Price wasn't happy with the Aussie's speed of play and he won't have much fun with Glen Durrant's slower methodical style either.

Duzza ground out a 4-3 victory in a north east derby with Chris Dobey that didn't quite catch fire although he did save the best moment till last.

The three-time Lakeside king, who is dreaming of becoming the first undisputed world champion, was far more impressive against Daryl Gurney in the previous round as he racked up four 100+ checkouts in a ruthless display of finishing.

Duzza has fantastic mental stamina in these long set play format - as proved in his BDO days and also in reaching the World Grand Prix semi-finals on debut - so expect this one to be a hard-fought affair.

In terms of a best bet, I quite like the 11/10 on Durrant having two or more 100+ checkouts in the match while five or more from both players combined is 11/4.

Prediction: 3-5

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE, RESULTS & FORMAT

Related Darts Content

• 2020 World Darts Championship betting tips
• 2020 World Darts: What the stats say
• Listen: 2020 World Darts Podcast
• Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally picks
• Play Fantasy Darts
• Glen Durrant interview
• Nathan Aspinall interview
• Watch: All the World Championship nine-darters
• 2020 World Darts Championship betting tips
• 2020 World Darts Championship draw
• 2020 Premier League venues & dates
• 2020 PDC event calendar & results
• 2019 PDC event calendar & results
• 2019 Premier League darts results
• Sky Bet's darts odds