2025 PDC WC Friday Evening Preview

Ian White was given a walkover earlier so our only bet was voided. James Punt has a few more wagers for tonight’s action at the Ally Pally, you can check out his 2025 PDC WC Friday evening preview and tips below.

Mickey Mansell vs. Tomoya Goto

It is not often I have previewed a Mickey Mansell match and started it by saying that he has won eight of his last ten matches and reached the semi-final of a ranking Major in his last appearance. It has been a strange season at times, and Mansell making the semi-final of the Grand Slam was right up there.

He played really well in the qualifiers, and was very solid in the group stage, losing to Humphries, but beating Wade and Rodriguez. He averaged 99 when beating Danny Noppert 10-7, but he was lucky against an underperforming Menzies in the quarter final, before losing to Lukeman in the semi-final.

Mansell has played in eight previous World Championships and won three of his opening matches. Those were his last three, so maybe he is getting the hang of this Ally Pally thing. He beat Haupai Puha, Ben Robb and last year, Zong from China. Not really top flight opponents. Will Goto be any better than those last three?

In Form Goto

Goto has also won eight of his last ten matches. That was at Asian Tour level and he picked up his first title of the season in October, beating Nitin Kumar, Sandro Eric Sosing and Lourence Ilagan in the process. His average in the last three months is 87.70, compared to Mansell’s 93.72.

Goto played here last year and beat In White 3-1, averaging 90.71. He took a set off Ryan Searle in the second round, so he was very much at home on the big stage. These Asian Tour players are very confident in their abilities these days. They get season long competitive tournaments and the standards are going up every year.

So far, we have seen Azemoto taking two sets off Plaisier, Ilagan drew a blank against Woodhouse, Zong also drew a blank, but Nebrida beat Jim Williams 3-2 and Lok Yin Lee beat Chris Landman 3-1. Kumar took a set off Lukeman. The Asian players have been far from disgraced and have got men into round two.

If it wasn’t for that run of good form for Mansell, I may well have gone for a Goto win here. He has an Ally Pally win under his belt already and is a very feisty, combative player, much like Lok Yin Lee yesterday.

Deliberate Mansell

Mansell is a very deliberate player. He plays the game at his pace, think Continental drift, and that can ruin his opponents’ rhythm. I have no idea if Goto will have played a player like Mansell before, but he is unlikely to enjoy the pace of play. Mansell is the 1.30 favourite, Goto has been backed into 4.00. That is likely due to Lok Yin Lee’s win yesterday.

It is impossible to know if Mansell will be able to bring his Grand Slam form to the Ally Pally stage tonight. He has been a journeyman pro for all his days, and a run to a Major semi-final is unlikely to have changed that. But, his confidence will have got a massive boost.

I think that even with his odds shortening, Goto makes some appeal. If he cannot handle the slow pace of play, he could bomb, but I think he can make some impression on the game.

Goto is 2.40 getting a +1.5 set handicap. That means he needs to win two sets. Mickey Mansell to win 3-1 is 4.00? I’ll have a small bet on the correct score.

2025 PDC WC Friday evening Tip: 0.5 point Mickey Mansell to win 3-1 @ 4.00 with Fitzdares

Florian Hempel vs. Jeffrey de Zwaan

A few years ago, I would have expected De Zwaan to have won at least a Major by now and be competing for World Championships. However, a shoulder injury and resulting surgery set him back, and he has never really recovered his full abilities.

He has won eight of his last ten matches and eight of those matches were World Championship qualifiers. He has averaged 90.27 in the last three months, but his game is being held back by poor doubling. His checkout rate is just 33% in the last three months and that is not good enough against the better players.

Florian Hempel has won six of his last ten matches but hasn’t played with much consistency. He has hit a couple of ton plus averages and a couple of sub 90s and it is hard to be sure of what you are going to get. His three month average is 92.86, and at 36%, his doubling hasn’t been much better than Hempel’s.

Perfect First Round Record

Hempel has played in the last three World Championships and won all three first round matches and he has won five of his eight matches in total, so he has enjoyed going to the Ally Pally. De Zwaan has played in four World Championships and won two of his opening matches. He has played well in all of them. Across his seven matches he has won just three, but always averaged over 91 and his Ally Pally average is 97.85.

Both players have played well here and hopefully they get stuck in and have a proper game. They have never met before which doesn’t help.

Hempel is the 1.62 favourite, De Zwaan 2.50. That may be a bit generous about De Zwaan. However, I will have a go on the 180s. Over the last three months, they have been knocking them in at a combined rate of 0.50. A fairly close match looks possible, and that should give them time to rack up more than seven.

2025 PDC WC Friday evening Tip: 1 point over 7.5 180’s @ 2.10 with Betfair, Boylesports, SpreadEx

William O’Connor vs. Dylan Slevin

An all Irish match up to see who gets to play Dimitri van den Bergh in the second round.

O’Connor is the senior partner and has won six of his last ten matches. He reached the semi-final of the last Players Championship of the season, carrying some of Punt’s pounds at silly odds, but couldn’t quite make the final.

He had been playing some really good stuff leading up to that event but since then, he has played just three matches and lost two, with a best average of 90. Will he have been able to regain some of that good form that he was showing in October?

His record at the Ally Pally is reasonable. He has played in seven world championships and won his last six first round matches, reaching the third round twice. He has won five of his opening matches 3-0.

Slevin made his debut last year and lost his first round match 1-3 to Florian Hempel. Most recently Slevin has won six of his last ten PDC matches. He smashed in two ton plus averages in the Tour Card qualifiers, before falling over the line 7-5 against Martijn Dragt and averaging 86. A nervy finish to win his place. That suggests a nervy start to his World Championship is likely.

Their H2H record is 1-1, both floor matches last year. O’Connor won the last 6-1 thanks to Slevin being 11% on the doubles.

O’Connor is the 1.50 favourite, with Slevin 2.75. I think O’Connor can win comfortably.

2025 PDC WC Friday evening Tip: 0.5 point O’Connor to win 3-0 @ 4.50 with Fitzdares

2025 PDC WC Friday evening Tip: 1 point O’Connor to win -1.5 sets @ 2.15 with Fitzdares

Michael van Gerwen vs. James Hurrell

The crowd will be happy to have a player on stage who they can sing about. Listening to the crowd all week, you would have thought that MVG had been playing in every match.

He faces James Hurrell, who beat Jim Long 3-0 on Tuesday. It was an OK performance, but nothing to worry MVG. Hurrell has lost six of his last ten matches but has put in some decent performances, with four 97+ averages.

MVG does not come into this in good form. He has lost six of his last ten matches, and he has been putting in some plain ropey performances. He lost to Mickey Mansell and averaged 86.75, He lost to Ryan Joyce and averaged 93.43 and in his last match he lost 1-6 to Ian White and averaged 91.41.

Those kind of performances means that Hurrell is not just coming here to have the best view of MVG in the house, he has a chance. Of course, MVG has also lost with a 112 average to Littler, but he isn’t playing with any great consistency and his confidence is fragile.

MVG has played seventeen world Championships and won fifteen of his opening matches, including his last thirteen in a row. He has won his last two 3-0, but he had a run of five straight 3-1 wins. Given that his form is a bit flaky this year, and Hurrell has got that first round win under his belt, another 3-1 is very much on the radar.

2025 PDC WC Friday evening Tip: 0.5 point MVG to win 3-1 @ 3.60 with Fitzdares

-JamesPunt