2024 World Series Darts Friday Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 World Series Darts Friday preview. You can check out who he fancies outright here.

Boris Krčmar vs. Stephen Bunting

Bunting is the prohibitive 1.30 favourite, but their H2H record is 3-2 to Boris. Bunting is in decent form, winning six of his last ten matches and hitting five ton plus averages. There is the odd flat spot, but he is usually solid enough until the latter stages.

Three of their last five matches required over 9.5 legs and that is a 2.30 shot, which is tempting. However, Boris is not in great form, losing six of his last ten, and if Bunting is in ton plus form, it could be a short match. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: No Bet

Gabriel Clemens vs. Damon Heta

Clemens is in great form, winning eight of his last ten matches and he averaged 107 when beating MVG 6-4 last weekend. He is not the most consistent of players, but he is playing some very good stuff.

Heta is harder to call. He won PC18 last month but since then he is 3-3 and his average across his last five is just 91.7. He has played in five World Series finals and has won five first round matches. Clemens has played three and lost three.

Their H2H record is 6-2 to Heta and on stage 5-0. This is tricky. Everything says Heta to win, and win by a few legs, except their most recent form.

Heta is the 1.58 favourite, Clemens 2.50. I will take a chance that Heta finds his scoring boots and wins with something in hand.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: 1 point Heta to win -1.5 legs @ 2.00 with Fitzdares

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Chris Dobey

Van den Bergh has lost six of his last ten, but he is playing better than that sounds. The consistency isn’t there, but he can still hit some high notes. Dobey, on the other hand, is winning a lot of matches, eight of his last ten, and he won PC19 three weeks ago. He reached a semi-final on the Euro Tour last week. His only TV title came in a non-ranking event and maybe the lower pressure of these ‘fun’ events will help him bring that floor form to the TV stage.

Their H2H record is 7-7 with Dobey winning their last three. They have played thirteen best of eleven leg matches, and ten required less than 9.5 legs, including their last six. Dobey to cover the handicap, or under 9.5 legs? The odds on covering the handicap are bigger, and I’ll be aggressive here and go for -2.5 legs, which he has covered five times.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: 1 point Chris Dobey to win -2.5 legs @ 2.80 with Betfred

Johan Engstrom vs. Raymond van Barneveld

The Sweet Ferret is not only up against RVB, but his ‘Army’ as well. Barney remains the crowd favourite.

The Swede plays on the Nordic Baltic tours and he has won two titles in 2024. He has also played some Euro Tours and one World Series, where he beat Peter Wright 6-5. That was the rank out of form Wright, so we can’t read too much into that. He is a very light scorer, his last 100 matches did not see a ton plus average.

RVB Out Of Form

Barney is in poor form, losing seven of his last ten matches, so he will not be bursting with confidence. If Engstrom can get off to a good start, he could frustrate Barney, and it is possible to get Barney to beat himself, or at least to struggle more than he should.

This is a kind draw for Barney. RVB is the 1.30 favourite, which makes no appeal given his recent form. Engstrom usually gives a reasonable account of himself when he gets to play the big boys. He beat Joe Cullen 6-1 on the Euro Tour this season, took four legs off Van den Bergh in the World series a few years ago, beat Peter Wright this year and took a leg off the World Champion, Luke Humphries. He will get something on the scoreboard.

Engstrom is 1.91 with a +2.5 leg handicap. Just a bit too short for me, however. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: No Bet

Luke Littler vs. Ross Smith

This could be the match of the night. Two heavy scorers and there is less than a point between their seasonal averages. Smith can live with Littler, but his game revolves around him hitting a lot of maximums. Smudger has won six of his last ten matches, but he has been blowing hot and cold. He is very hard to predict right now.

Littler is having the odd messy performance but six of his last ten matches have seen ton plus averages. They are 1-1 in the H2Hs, but Littler won their only stage match 7-2 in a Euro Tour semi-final in April.

If Smith doesn’t fire in the 180s, we could have something similar. Smith hit eight maximums when he beat Littler 6-5 on the floor, but only two when suffering that heavy defeat on the Euro Tour.

Littler is the 1.44 favourite, Smith is being backed and is now 2.90. I am just not comfortable getting involved in a match with Smith in it right now, he is just too unpredictable. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: No Bet

Michael van Gerwen vs. Jonny Clayton

MVG has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing well. He just doesn’t have that massive confidence anymore. He loses matches he wouldn’t have three or four years ago. He averaged 104 against Peter wright a few weeks ago and lost 4-6. He is vulnerable to anyone who plays well against him, he has lost that ability to put the fear into opponents.

Jonny Clayton has dropped off the radar in the last year or so. We get occasional signs of the old Ferret, usually when I oppose him, but he has lost six of his last ten matches. He did win PC14 back in July and was runner up on the Euro Tour in May, but his game has regressed again.

Close H2H

Their H2H record is close, 22-18 to MVG and the Ferret has been a bit of a pain for Van Gerwen. They have met twice in 2024 and it is 1-1. They met in this event three times. MVG won 10-6 in 2019 and Clayton won 11-6 in 2021 and 10-7 in 2022. This is a shorter, best of eleven leg format match.

Van Gerwen is the 1.48 favourite, Clayton 2.76. On H2H form, Clayton is the value but on recent form, you have to think MVG will win. Van Gerwen has only lost one opening match in the World Series finals, he has won the title five times and is the defending champion. On home soil, he will be determined to do well.

No less than eleven of their twenty six best of eleven leg matches have ended with a 6-3 scoreline and 69% have been under 9.5 legs.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: 0.5 point MVG to win 6-3 @ 6.00 generally available

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: 1 point under 9.5 legs @ 1.80 with Livescorebet

Luke Humphries vs. Haupai Puha

‘Hopes’ will be glad not to get drawn against Rob Cross again. He had to face Voltage in both events down under and he lost both 5-6.

The Kiwi is in his first year as tour card holder, upping sticks to spend most of his time in the UK. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and getting drawn against the tournament favourite is harsh. He has played in this event for the last two years, losing 5-6 to Dirk van Duijvenbode in 2022, beating Graham Usher 6-3 last year, before losing 4-6 to Peter Wright.

Humphries is the 1.08 favourite, Puha 9.00. They have never met before, but Humphries averages a full 10 points more than the Kiwi. It is hard to find much value here. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: No Bet

Danny Noppert vs. Gian van Veen

An all Dutch affair to end the night. Noppert is the 1.83 favourite and he comes here not in great form. He has won six of his last ten matches but he hasn’t been his usual steady self.

Gian van Veen has lost five of his last ten matches and has averaged between 86.5 and 111.6. Consistency is not his forte right now.

Their H2H record is 2-2 and three of the four have been over 9.5 legs. Over 9.5 is a 2.00 shot, but with both players hard to call, this could be anything. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts Friday Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt