2026 WM Darts Thursday Preview & Tips – JP
2026 WM Darts Thursday Preview & Tips
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2026 WM Darts Thursday preview and tips. It has been a bit of a grind so far but hopefully the tide will turn this evening.
R2 Reflections
The second Round matches didn’t go well betting wise with two winners from six selections and a -2.45 point loss. That takes the running total to -3.00 points.
The outright bets have lost 3 points but we still have James Wade in the running to win the fourth quarter at 6.50. He will play Gian van Veen to decide the winner tomorrow night. They played at the same stage last year, with Wade winning 16-13.
Tonight we have the first of the quarter finals. The matches get seriously long now, the best of 31 legs (sudden death at 18–18).
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Gary Anderson
Dirk overcame some MVG fear to beat his fellow Dutchman 14-12 in round two, having required extra legs to see off Chris Dobey in round 1.
It has been hard work to get this far. His tournament average is a reasonable 94.35, but he is going to need to find more than that, in all likelihood. Dirk has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing at much the same level as he has been playing since losing the final of PC15 in early May.
He doesn’t react well to losing finals and since that loss, Van Duijvenbode has played in three quarter finals and lost all three. He has gone sixteen matches without hitting a ton plus average and it is fair to say he is not at his best. Dirk has won six of his last ten matches.
Higher Level
Gary Anderson might not play much anymore but he is playing at a higher level than Van Duijvenbode. He too has won six of his last ten matches, hitting three ton plus averages, but also three sub 90s. Anderson is averaging 104.04 across his two matches and he has hit something like his top form at just the right time.
Dirk has played just one Matchplay quarter final and lost that 11-16 to Danny Noppert in 2022. Anderson has played four and won four, albeit with the last being back in 2020. Anderson has played a total of forty-six TV Major quarter finals and won thirty one.
Again, you have to go back in time to find most of them. In the last six years, Anderson has played seven major quarter finals and won four.
Their H2H record is 8-5 to Anderson and he has won their last four in a row, including a 10-6 win in his years UK Open. On TV they are 3-3.
Anderson is the 1.40 favourite, Dirk van Duijvenbode 3.00. Anderson has been playing better so far, as a good quarter final record and is much more experienced in these big matches. He has covered a -2.5 leg handicap in three of his four Matchplay semi-finals.
2026 WM Darts Thursday Tip: 1 point Gary Anderson to win -2.5 legs @ 1.76 with Livescorebet
2026 WM Darts Thursday Tip: 0.5 point Anderson to win 16-13 @ 11.00 with Betfair
Luke Littler vs. Josh Rock
Josh Rock once publicly entertained the idea that he and Littler would one day have a great rivalry. After playing him nine times, and losing nine times, I suppose Rock will have to redefine rivalry.
All of their matches have been on stage and seven on TV. Their longest format matches were in the 2025 Grand Slam quarter final, which Littler won 16-12, and last year’s Matchplay semi-final which Littler won 17-14. There was also an 11-9 win for Littler in this year’s UK Open semi-final.
Littler has been tested by Springer and Aspinall in the opening two rounds, but he was always able to move up a gear or two if required. His tournament average is 111.61. He hit a nine darter in the opening leg against Aspinall, just to set the tone. His opponents’ 3 dart average has been 99.44, so he has had plenty coming back at him, but he won both fairly comfortably in the end.
Josh Rock has a tournament average of just 90.80 but that was good enough against his opponents average of 85.86.
Different League
In terms of tournament form so far, Littler is in a different league to Rock. Their H2H is all one-way traffic for Littler and he is the 1.08 favourite, with Rock 9.00.
It is hard to get too excited about this match. Rock has won seven of his last ten matches but hasn’t played well in most of them. His doubling is not good and he has hit seven sub 94 averages in those last ten matches.
On the positive sign, he can’t play much worse, has got nothing to lose and he will give it his best shot. How good that shot is, could prove to be the problem.
In their three previous long format matches, two of them saw both averaging big ton plus averages and the other a ton for littler and a 94 for Rock. It is hard to see a ton plus from Rock right now, but I suspect he will raise his game. It still won’t be enough, but he will win legs and not get the kind of thrashing the odds suggest. I will just have a small correct score bet.
