2026 European Darts Trophy Betting Preview

Now, we move onto the next instalment of the Euro Tour and James Punt is hoping to rebound from a tough night in the dastardly Premier League. His 2026 European Darts Trophy Betting preview and tips are below.

2026 European Darts Trophy

The European Darts Trophy returned to the calendar after a nine-year absence last year. It was won by Nathan Aspinall, who beat Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the final.

There is no Luke Littler this weekend. The tournament is played in Germany and his boycott of all things German continues (outside of the Berlin PL night and the European Championship Finals).

Outside of Littler’s absence we were due to have a full complement of the top players. The likes of Gerwyn Price and the other six PL players were entered, but the German town of Göttingen, the venue for the tournament is a bit of a faff to get to.

Long Trip

The PL was in Nottingham on Thursday night and then those players have to make their way to central Germany. Göttingen is not close to any Major airports, so the PL players are likely to head to Manchester for a flight to Frankfurt and then a two-hour train journey to Göttingen. It might be that some players don’t fancy it. This event was second on the calendar last year, and Littler and Bunting didn’t travel.

We have had three pre-draw withdrawals, Gary Anderson, James Wade and the big surprise is that the defending champion, Nathan Aspinall will not be here. I have no idea why, maybe he isn’t well. They were replaced by Mensur Suljović, Keane Barry and Lukas Wenig. Jermaine Wattimena, Mike De Decker and Rob Cross moved up to become the 14th, 15th and 16th seeds respectively.

More Withdrawals

This morning, Luke Humphries, fresh from another disappointing night in the PL, has gone home to lick his wounds. Jonny Clayton, who played through the pain barrier to win Night 6 last night, didn’t fancy hopping all the way to central Germany, and he has pulled out.

As these two pulled out after the draw was made, they are directly replaced by Karel Sedlacek and Cam Crabtree respectively. They jump straight into the second round, and it does change the dynamic of the draw, so thanks for that lads. Re-write!

TOP 16 Seeds (Enter in Round 2)

1 Luke Humphries – W/D

2 Gian van Veen 

Has lost five of his last seven matches and he is another player that will be getting a bit frustrated. He hasn’t won a ranking title in 2026 yet, but has lost three finals, including ET1 in Poland. He may be finding that the reality of the PL schedule is tough. He was very poor last night and looks to have gone off the boil.

3 Michael van Gerwen 

Another top player who is struggling for wins. MVG has lost five of his last seven matches but is playing well enough on the whole. He missed ET1 due to illness and that illness did slow him down a bit.

He played some good stuff at the UK Open, but lost to a rampant James Wade in the sixth round. Has won this title three times and been runner up twice. Van Gerwen made the semi-final last year. Like many of the PL players, MVG looks a bit jaded. He does have very good draw, however.

4 Jonny Clayton – W/D

5 Stephen Bunting 

Withdrew from this last year, but he usually makes the effort to play in as many events as he can. Bunting has won six of his last ten matches but still has a habit of throwing in a stinker too often, as he did at the weekend, averaging 89.16 in 7-10 loss to Josh Rock. He is another who has come off the boil.

6 Ryan Searle 

Remains without a Euro Tour title, and after a promising 2024 Euro Tour campaign, with a final, a semi-final and six more quarter finals, he regressed again in 2025. Heavy Metal started the year well, with a World Championship semi-final, and a semi-final in PC2, but since then he has been a bit flat. Losing five of his last ten matches. He remains hard to fancy.

7 Josh Rock 

Had two Euro Tour finals and three more semi-finals in 2025. He comes into this with a seasonal win rate of just 50% but he did make the semi-final of the UK Open at the weekend.

Rock has lost six of his last ten matches, three of them to Luke Littler. He will have more reasons than most to be glad that Littler isn’t here this weekend. Rock is on suicide watch in the PL. He hit a 180 with his first throw last night, and then just went to bits. He was beaten after two throws.

Bunting felt sorry for him and missed a load of doubles to let Rock win a leg. It could be that the fact that this is not the PL, might let Rock relax and play his game, but his head must be in a spin.

8 Danny Noppert 

Another topflight player who has not won a title on the Euro Tour. He has lost twelve quarter finals, two semi-finals and a final in the last three seasons in Europe. He has already lost four quarter finals in various tournaments in 2026. I just can’t think of Noppert as anything else but unbackable for outright betting purposes.

9 Gerwyn Price 

A three-time quarter finalist in this event, Price has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well. He was magnificent in a 5-6 defeat to Luke Littler last night. However, actually winning stage titles is proving difficult. He lost another semi-final, at the UK Open at the weekend.

Last year Price won one Euro Tour title and a World Series title, and that was it in terms of stage wins. He seems to have lost the knack of converting good form, and deep runs, into titles. He should be there abouts again, but is he value at the odds? (7.50)

10 Chris Dobey 

Smashing in big numbers but just can’t do it on stage. Fell at the first at the UK Open, despite averaging 102.90 against James Wade. Never won on the Euro Tour but picks up Players Championship titles with relative ease.

These events are not officially a TV tournament, but it is on stage and he has only ever won once on a stage. The way he is playing, he really should be a shortlisted player, at least, but he falls into the same category as Danny Noppert.

11 Martin Schindler 

Has played in all six European Darts Trophies and never got past the third round. His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches and while his last four matches have been better, his win rate in 2026 is just 42%.

12 Ross Smith 

Having won PC5 and been a quarter finalist in PC6, I fancied Smith to have a good run in the UK Open. He beat Andrew Gilding but lost to Daryl Gurney in round 5. He was poor on his doubles and let his head drop, which is a bit of a trait of his.

Smudger has been playing good darts for a while now and if he can stay positive, a fourth Euro Tour final is not out of the question.

13 Damon Heta 

Hs lost six of his last ten matches and has a win rate of just 40% in 2026. Hard to fancy.

14 Jermaine Wattimena 

Has lost five of his last ten, and while he has played some decent stuff, he has had five sub 90 averages and he isn’t on the boil. Is due to face MVG in round 3, and that usually goes the way of Van Gerwen.

15 Mike de Decker 

Has shown some better form but has lost five of his last ten matches and remains far from his best.

16 Rob Cross 

Reached the quarter final of the UK Open at the weekend, which will have given his confidence a boost, but he was poor against Wade in that quarter final, averaging just 89.59, but still took it to a deciding leg. He has won six of his last ten matches but still looks to have too much inconsistency in his game to go all the way.

Best of the Unseeded Players

Wessel Nijman 

Has won three of the last nine Players Championship events, and runner up in another, but his stage form remains a little less eye-catching. Nijman did have two Euro Tour semi-finals last year and he is playing well, winning seven of his last ten matches.

His three defeats were to Humphries, Van Veen and Price, and if he could avoid the big names early on, he could have a good run. He has a tough first round draw against Cristo Reyes and is scheduled to face Van Veen in round three.

Krzysztof Ratajski 

Playing better than losing six of his last ten matches sounds. He has proven hard to bet when he has lost and he could be a thorn in the side for anyone he plays.

Cristo Reyes 

Has played some really good darts since his surprise return to the game. The problem is that he was never more than a shooting star back in the day and finds having deep runs beyond him. He does struggle against the big names which doesn’t help.

Kevin Doets

Is Hawkeye finally starting to deliver on his potential? He was always a bit overrated in my book, but his win rate is 71% in 2026 and he has been putting in some eye-catching performances recently.

He gave Luke Littler a proper match at the UK Open, losing 8-10 in the end, and played well in a 4-6 loss to Price in the quarter final of PC6 a couple of weeks ago. Doets has won seven of his last ten matches and is in good form. A Dark Horse.

Dirk Van Duijvenbode 

I don’t think he has the bottle to win titles, but he has been playing good darts recently and could be a real handful, if he can keep his head screwed on, but that is his problem.

2026 European Darts Trophy: The Draw

First Quarter 

Luke Humphries was the top seed, but maybe he saw the quality in this quarter, and decided to give it a miss. He is replaced by Karel Sedlack. The other three ‘real’ seeds are Rob Cross, Danny Noppert and Gerwyn Price. Those coming in at the first-round stage include Willy O’Connor, Mensur Suljovic, Dirk van Duijvenbode, and the legend that is Joe Cullen.

I had expected Humphries and Price to play off for a place in the semi-finals, but with Humphries absent, Price would seem to have a clear run. Can anyone give him a problem? Whisper it quietly, but Dirk van Duijvenbode has been playing some nice stuff recently.

Second Quarter 

This looks to have less topflight talent in it, but still hard to figure out. Jonny Clayton was the main seed but has been replaced by Cam Crabtree. He is a very talented young player, but his recent form is not great. He has lost six of his last ten matches at senior level, and hit six sub 90 averages. There was also a 106.85 in there as well, so he could win a match or two, or be on an early flight home.

Crabtree is joined by Heta, Bunting and Ross Smith as the seeds. All very capable but as likely to disappoint than to have a big run. First round entrants include Kevin Doets, Andrew Gilding, and that is about it as far as possible outsiders are concerned.

I have mentioned Doets earlier, and I fancied him to cause a surprise against The Ferret. He now plays Crabtree. An easier match on paper, but they are 2-2 and Crabtree has won their last two, both last year.

Third Quarter 

Another interesting quarter, topped by Gian van Veen as the top seed. The other seeds are Dobey, Rock and De Decker. Lively outsiders entering in the first round are Wessel Nijman, Christo Reyes and Krzysztof Ratajski.

Nijman and Reyes play each other to see who plays De Decker. Van Veen has lost five of his seven matches and looks a bit knackered. He is likely to face Ratajski in his opening match and the last time they met, in the Players Championship finals, Ratajski won 6-5. I have to think that Nijman and Ratajski are the players of interest here.

Fourth Quarter 

Michael van Gerwen couldn’t have hoped for a better draw. He has Wattimena, Searle and Schindler as the other seeds. Euro Tour dodgepots or in poor form the lot. First rounders of interest? None. Whether MVG can take it all the way is another question, but he has won it three times before and was a semi-finalist last year.

2026 European Darts Trophy Selections

Last year this was won by Nathan Aspinall, who beat the unseeded Ryan Joyce in the final. Humphries and MVG made the semi-finals, along with Anderson.

I am going to take a view for this event. We had the 6th night of the PL on the eve of this event, which came hot on the heels of the UK Open. Some of these players have been playing a lot of darts recently and doing lot of travelling. It might be getting to some of them.

With Luke Littler not being here, there is a real opportunity for the rest to make hay while he is away. Maybe we can see an unseeded player have a big run like Joyce did last year.

MVG Tempting

I was/am tempted by MVG as he has a very good draw, but he was rubbish last night and has lost five of his last seven matches. I will have to give him a miss, but who else is worth backing in Q4? Ryan Searle?

I admit to availing myself a bit of Kevin Doets at 126.00 last night. As soon as I saw Clayton hopping about, it was pretty clear that he was very unlikely to play in this.

Doets has been playing some nice darts recently and if he can get past Crabtree, which is not a given, the draw looks pretty decent for him in Q2. The fancy odds have all gone now and he is as short as 34.00. Those odds are a bit rubbish, but 51.00 is still just enough for a modest bet.

2026 European Darts Trophy Tip: 0.5 point e/w Kevin Doets to win @ 51.00 with Livescorebet

I am on an anti PL players trip this weekend, and to be consistent, I have to rule out Gerwyn Price. The Iceman is the best player left in the draw and the 5.00 favourite. He will probably go and win it now, but value? Not for me, given his stage struggles. I will take leave of my senses and have a tickle on the Augbergenius in Q1.

2026 European Darts Trophy Tip: 0.25 point e/w Dirk van Duijvenbode to win @ 34.00 generally available

Krzysztof Ratajski is a two time Euro title winner, is playing good darts, consistent darts, and while his draw looks tough, he might be facing Gian Van Veen at the right time. If he can make round three, the draw opens up and the odds are decent.

2026 European Darts Trophy Tip: 0.5 point e/w Krzysztof Ratajski to win @ 51.00 with Betfred

That leaves Q4 unbacked. MVG sticks out like a sore thumb, but his recent form suggests that while he might make the semi-final, the payout places look unlikely and odds of 10.00 are not enough.

I will try to get a couple of tips up for the afternoon session, and the evening session preview will be posted later this afternoon. Stay tuned.

-JamesPunt