2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night Preview – JP
2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night Preview
One from two for James last night at the World Matchplay and two of his outright selections are through to the quarter finals. His 2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night previews and tips are below.
Andrew Gilding vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
Two very different players with very different styles. The first thing I like to do when it comes to previewing Andrew Gilding’s matches is to look at the H2H record, more so when you have a real clash of styles. In this case, they have only played each other three times and Dirk leads 2-1. They have not played since August 2023. All three matches were best of eleven legs and none were close (3-6, 6-2, 6-2). Not a lot to go on.
In terms of recent form, Gilding leads on that front with eight wins from his last ten matches. Two were against Damon Heta and both saw ton plus averages. It would be fair to say that his consistency of scoring hasn’t been great, but the same can be said for Van Duijvenbode.
Dirk has lost five of his last ten matches since losing the final of PC17 last month. He has played some good matches and some poor matches. His last four have seen a 90.24 average, lost, a 105.31 average, won, a 85.32, lost, and a 95,33, won. I get the feeling that he will hit a flat spot at some point.
Dirk Finds Winning Hard
Dirk is still in search of a Major title, indeed he is still looking for a first Euro Tour title. Andrew Gilding has won a Major and he strikes me as a player who is very good at not getting ahead of himself, he stays in the moment, plays the point, plays the leg and if he wins, so much the better. Dirk seems to have his eyes on the prize from the first dart.
This is an interesting match-up. Both players have been playing some great stuff, and some not so great stuff. Gilding has picked up a few more wins than Van Duijvenbode but maybe faced easier opponents?
The market makes Van Duijvenbode the 1.57 favourite and Gilding is the 2.63 outsider. Dirk is seen as the ‘sexier’ player, Gilding a bit of a freak. In fact, Gilding is the higher ranked player and the one with a Major title in his back pocket.
2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night Tip: 1 point Andrew Gilding to win @ 2.63 with Skybet, Betfair
Chris Dobey vs. Gerwyn Price
Dobey has won seven of his last ten matches and hit five ton plus averages but there have been a few less impressive displays, including sub 94s, and those will not do at this level.
He needs his A-game and that was not on display in his first round win over Pietreczko. The German’s 83.22 average was the worst of the tournament so far, and he still took five legs off Dobey who was struggling with his doubling.
Price has won twelve of his last thirteen matches and hit a ton average in an entertaining 10-7 win over Daryl Gurney in the first round. One of those wins was a 7-3 win over Dobey in the semi-final of the Baltic Sea Darts Open, ten days ago.
Dominant H2H
These two have met eight times in 2025 and Price has won five, and five of their last six. Overall, he is 20-4 up against Dobey.
Price is the 1.54 favourite, Dobey 2.63. In terms of stats, this is an even looking match, but in terms of who generally wins their matches, Price looks underrated. Price has lost his last two second round matches here, but he is much more up for it in 2025. He wants to play darts again and to win Major titles.
2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night Tip: 1 point Gerwyn Price to win -2.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfred, Hills, BET365
Luke Littler vs. Jermaine Wattimena
Littler’s lack of competitive matches didn’t matter a fig in his first-round match. He beat Ryan Searle 10-2 and averaged 108. He was all business and just put Searle to the sword.
Wattimena broke his duck by finally winning a match in the Matchplay. It was a 10-8 win over Peter Wright and Wattimena has now won seven of his last ten matches, but is not playing with any great consistency. Four of his last seven matches have seen sub 92 averages and the Dutchman is likely to need a ton plus minimum just to have a look in.
4-0 Littler
They have met four times now and Littler is 4-0. The last win was a 10-4 win at the UK Open in March. They played in another long format match at last year’s Grand Slam quarter final and Littler won that 16-2. In their four matches, Wattimena has hit three ton plus averages and won the grand total of nine legs of the fifty-seven played.
I think Littler might be able to cover a fairly substantial handicap tonight. He is the 1.10 favourite to win, with Wattimena a 8.00 shot, just in case there are any glue sniffers who fancy an outsider bet.
2025 WM Darts Wednesday Night Tip: 1 point Luke Littler to win -5.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair
Michael van Gerwen vs. Josh Rock
MVG’s run of poor form continued with his 10-6 first round win over Raymond van Barneveld. At least he won, but it was only a 91.84 average, which was enough against a poor RVB.
MVG has lost seven of his last ten matches and is struggling big time. His last good performance, ironically, was a 104.37 average in a 7-2 win over Josh Rock back in April. He went on to win that title but since then, he has played fifteen matches and lost nine. If anything, his form is getting worse.
Rock beat, nae thrashed Ross Smith 10-5 in the first round, averaging 104.32. He has won seven of his last ten matches, hit six ton plus averages with a low average of 96.06. He is in top form. Playing at that sort of level in a long format match will make him very hard to beat for a player in form, and MVG is in no sort of form.
Their H2H record is 7-2 to MVG and it is fair to say that Rock holds his opponent in high esteem. That may stop him from becoming complacent. He said that he practiced with MVG the other day and got blown away, but Rock also knows that it is his time to start stepping up in the big events. His confidence is high after that World Cup of Darts win and I expect Rock to get his third win over MVG.
Rock is the 1.47 favourite, MVG 2.90. I will take Rock on the handicap.
