Josh Rock (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)

World Matchplay darts 2025: Day eight semi-final predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sat July 26, 2025 · 5M ago

The Betfred World Matchplay semi-finals take place at the Winter Gardens on Saturday so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.

World Matchplay day eight: Saturday July 26

·TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 2000 BST
·Format: Semi-finals, best of 33 legs

SL Acca: 1pt Over 24.5 180s in Littler v Rock & Clayton (-2.5) to beat Wade at 3/1 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

James Wade (11/10) v Jonny Clayton (4/6)

Head-to-head: 13-16
Tournament Average: 99.85 - 96.98
180s (180s per leg): 17 (0.29) - 22 (0.37)
Checkout %: 50.68% - 43.02%

SELECTION: 1pt Clayton (-2.5) to beat Wade at 5/4 (Paddy Power)

It's been four years since Jonny Clayton last got his hands on major individual silverware in the PDC but over the past few months Ferret has rediscovered his hunger and drive to end that drought.

The Ferret, who won the Premier League, Masters, World Grand Prix and World Series of Darts during his glorious 2021, admitted back in December that his time at the top might be coming to an end but now he's changed his mind.

Isn't it great to see Jonny Clayton back to being a serious contender again.

Back in December he said his time at the top was running out but he's now changed his mind... pic.twitter.com/8PdG0MXA6t
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) July 24, 2025

Clayton came agonisingly close to winning the World Masters back in February and then reached the UK Open semi-finals, so this run has surprised nobody.

Despite being pretty distraught with his performance against Mike de Decker, he was much more upbeat after crushing Stephen Bunting 16-7 in the last round and finds himself as a clear favourite to see off James Wade.

The Machine was disgruntled about being overlooked in the Sky Sports coverage the other night so the way he dispatched Gian van Veen 16-13 thanks largely to an unanswered run of eight legs came as great satisfaction to him.

Not taking anything away from him, but his opponents have either not really shown up - in Joe Cullen's case - or lacked experience such as Wessel Nijman and van Veen.

Clayton clearly possesses the quality, form and experience to make life very hard for Wade tonight and I fancy the Welshman to battle his way through and reach his second World Matchplay final.

Scoreline prediction: 12-17

Luke Littler (4/11) v Josh Rock (2/1)

Head-to-head: 0-0
Tournament Average: 103.10 - 100.69
180s (180s per leg): 32 (0.48) - 23 (0.35)
Checkout %: 40.21% - 49.37%

What an occasion for Luke Littler and Josh Rock to meet for the first time in the PDC ranks.

A World Matchplay semi-final.

It doesn't seem too long ago when Rock was first tipped for greatness when hitting a nine-dart finish against Michael van Gerwen at the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts and promptly followed that up with a superb run to the fourth round of his debut World Championship.

However, as he encountered some struggles to realise all of that rich potential, a certain Luke Littler burst onto the scene a year later to seize the darting spotlight and leave Rock - and many other top prospects - largely in the shade.

So isn't it amazing how the exciting Northern Irishman has put himself firmly back in the picture this year with a string of spectacular performances that also helped his country win the World Cup back in June.

This form has continued at the World Matchplay, where he's beaten two huge names in Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price to truly come of age and prove why everyone thought he was destined for big things.

While MVG may have been enduring some tough times, Price couldn't have been much hotter and was widely fancied for the title after a blockbusting run to the quarter-final. That was until he came up against Rock, who blew him away16-11 with a 104 average.

This kind of performance can seriously trouble Luke Littler, who has come through two much harder than expected battles against Jermaine Wattimena and Andrew Gilding.

To Littler's immense credit, he wasn't up against players who really suit his style yet still managed a record-breaking 18 maximums against the awkwardly slow Goldfinger, and showed tremendous battling spirit when things got tough.

Rock clearly relishes the challenge of playing huge names on the biggest stages - especially if they have a fired up mentality like MVG and Price - so tonight is going to be special.

Sometimes in sport, too much hype can contribute to a let down, but on this occasion, all the signs point to a high number of 180s and a hell of a lot of drama. It's tough to call, but I'm standing by the player I tipped at the start of the tournament in Josh Rock.

Scoreline prediction: 14-17