Luke Littler (Picture: PDC)

World Matchplay darts 2026: Day four predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

Darts

Tue July 21, 2026 · 3M ago

The 2026 Betfred World Matchplay continues on Tuesday night so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.

World Matchplay: Tuesday July 21

TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1900 BST
Format: Second round, best of 21 legs

SL Acca: 1pt Clayton, MVG, Littler (-2.5), & Bunting all to win at 8/1 with Sky Bet

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson

Three-Dart Average (2026): 95.92 - 98.63
180s per leg (2026): 0.30 - 0.34
Checkout Percentage (2026): 42.66% - 42.82%
Titles won in 2026 (TV titles in brackets): 0 (0) - 0 (0)

Gary Anderson produced one of the finest displays ever seen on the Winter Gardens stage on Sunday as he battered Ryan Joyce 10-2 with an average of 109.96, so inevitably people are already getting excited about the prospect of him winning his second World Matchplay title.

Afterwards the Flying Scotsman said: "You get those days sometimes where you can throw with your eyes shut and hit everything, and today was one of those days. I’ve missed a lot of tournaments this year. I play when I can, and honestly I came here not knowing what to expect. The next game will be a completely different game, so we’ll see what happens.”

We all know he's capable of these kind of displays but if they happened a lot then he wouldn't have gone so long without winning a major title.

Jonny Clayton has been reliably superb on this stage a lot in the last three years, reaching the final in 2023 and the semi-finals 12 months ago, and I fancy him to keep Anderson in check and book his place in the quarter-finals.

Scoreline prediction: 11-7

Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Three-Dart Average (2026): 96.9 - 96.03
180s per leg (2026): 0.29 - 0.35
Checkout Percentage (2026): 38.6% - 36.39%
Titles won in 2026 (TV titles in brackets): 3 (0) - 0 (0)

SELECTION: 1pt Michael van Gerwen to win and Van Duijvenbode to hit most 180s at 9/4 with Sky Bet

Michael van Gerwen produced a performance that summed his season up to beat Andrew Gilding 10-6 last time out and he'll much prefer facing Dirk van Duijvenbode tonight.

He trailed the methodical Goldfinger 4-1 in a sluggish start before agonisingly missing out on a nine-darted that sparked a much-needed turnaround that saw him run out a 10-6 winner. Afterwards he said: " It was a strange game. I think I had some really good patches and some really poor patches, but when you win the game, that’s the most important thing."

You never quite know what you're going to get with MVG these days but the same can certainly be said of his fellow Dutchman, who came through a thriller with Chris Dobey.

MVG has won 13 of their 17 meetings including a Players Championship final earlier this season and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is another occasion when van Duijvenbode's flurry of 180s isn't enough to help him triumph.

Scoreline prediction: 11-5

Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall

Three-Dart Average (2026): 101.00 - 95.31
180s per leg (2026): 0.43 - 0.33
Checkout Percentage (2026): 42.82% - 36.72%
Titles won in 2026 (TV titles in brackets): 4 (3) - 1 (0)

SELECTION: 2pts Luke Littler to win, hit most 180s and the highest checkout at 15/8 (Unibet)

Luke Littler made a big statement on opening night with a huge 109 average to sink Nico Springer 10-6, winning each of his last four legs in 11 darts.

It's those surges that nobody can really live with, and the longer the format, the more likely it is for his opponents to deal with at least one of these unplayable spells.

Nathan Aspinall also impressed on opening night with an average of 105.32 to defeat Joe Cullen 10-5 and if he can repeat those kind of levels, then he will undoubtedly give Littler a push.

However, we can't overlook Littler's 16-3 win-loss record over Aspinall and almost all over those were over just best of 11 leg format, so I'm expect the trend to continue.

Scoreline prediction: 11-6

Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting

Three-Dart Average (2026): 94.7 - 95.45
180s per leg (2026): 0.33 - 0.31
Checkout Percentage (2026): 36.29% - 37.93%
Titles won in 2026 (TV titles in brackets): 1 (0) - 0 (0)

Stephen Bunting somehow had to survive three match darts to get to this stage despite leading Niels Zonneveld 8-5 at one point on Saturday but he had the character to dig deep and set up a clash with Josh Rock.

Bunting hasn't enjoyed much success this year but an epic victory like that with the crowd behind him will do him the world of good and he'll be confident of defeating a player he's beaten in six of their previous nine meetings.

Rock was a comfortable 10-4 winner against a below-par Luke Woodhouse despite a very mediocre 90.42 average and although he has won a title this year, he's also not operating at the levels that got him selected for the Premier League.

This could be a scrappy affair and I'm backing the Bullet to come through it.

Scoreline prediction: 8-11

World Matchplay Darts: Draw Bracket

(1) Luke Littler 10-6 Niko Springer
(16) Nathan Aspinall 10-5 Joe Cullen
(8) Josh Rock 10-4 Luke Woodhouse
(9) Stephen Bunting 13-12 Niels Zonneveld
(4) Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Andrew Gilding
(13) Chris Dobey 11-13 Dirk van Duijvenbode
(5) Jonny Clayton 10-7 Damon Heta
(12) Gary Anderson 10-2 Ryan Joyce
(2) Luke Humphries 7-10 Cameron Menzies
(15) Ross Smith 10-6 Kevin Doets
(7) Gerwyn Price 11-9 Martin Schindler
(10) Danny Noppert 3-10 Rob Cross
(3) Gian van Veen 10-6 Krzysztof Ratajski
(14) Wessel Nijman 10-5 Dave Chisnall
(6) James Wade 10-7 Jermaine Wattimena
(11) Ryan Searle 10-6 William O’Connor

World Matchplay Darts: Daily Schedule

Click here for Sky Bet odds
* Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death

Saturday July 18 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Josh Rock 10-4 Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting 13-12 Niels Zonneveld
Luke Littler 10-6 Niko Springer
Nathan Aspinall 10-5 Joe Cullen

Sunday July 19
Morning Session (1300 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Dirk van Duijvenbode 13-11 Chris Dobey
Gary Anderson 10-2 Ryan Joyce
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Damon Heta

Evening Session (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Ryan Searle 10-6 William O’Connor
James Wade 10-7 Jermaine Wattimena
Gian van Veen 10-6 Krzysztof Ratajski
Wessel Nijman 10-5 Dave Chisnall

Monday July 20 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Ross Smith 10-6 Kevin Doets
Gerwyn Price 11-9 Martin Schindler
Cameron Menzies 10-7 Luke Humphries
Rob Cross 10-3 Danny Noppert

Tuesday July 21 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall
Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting

Wednesday July 22 (1900 BST)T)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Cameron Menzies v Ross Smith
Gian van Veen v Wessel Nijman
Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross
James Wade v Ryan Searle

Thursday July 24 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Two matches

Friday July 24 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Two matches

Saturday July 25 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4

Sunday July 26 (2030 BST)
Final (best of 35 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

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