2025 PDC WC Saturday Evening Preview

James Punt got another winner on the board this afternoon to keep things ticking over. He is back with more selections tonight, check out his 2025 PDC WC Saturday evening preview and tips below.

Danny Noppert vs. Ryan Joyce

Joyce beat Labanauskas 3-1 in the first round. It was a typical Joyce win, steady, low 90s average and not a lot to say about it. He has won seven of his last ten matches and mostly without any fireworks. He has only progressed beyond the second round here once in his six previous visits.

Danny Noppert has won eight of his last ten matches and he too has played in six previous World Championships and made the third round four times, but never got any further. In his four second round wins he has always conceded at least one set, with three 3-1 wins and a 3-2.

Their H2H record is interesting. Joyce leads 4-1. They have played twice this year and it was one win for each, both ending 6-4. Despite that healthy H2H record, Joyce is the 2.50 outsider. He just isn’t fashionable enough to be rated as highly as he should be. Joyce is just 1.62 getting a +1.5 handicap.

Noppert is the heavier scorer, Joyce the better finisher. I expect Noppert to progress, but Joyce should be able to get a set on the board.

2025 PDC WC Saturday evening Tip: 0.5 point Danny Noppert to win 3-1 @ 4.33 with Fitzdares

Raymond van Barneveld vs. Nick Kenny

Kenny had a straightforward 3-0 win over Stowe Buntz in the first round. It wasn’t a great match, both players hitting sub 90 averages, but Kenny was better on the doubles while Buntz didn’t take his chances.

Kenny has won five of his last ten matches, and he has been playing better than he did on Thursday. He will be hoping that now he has the nervy first round out of the way, he can relax and enjoy being the underdog. It was his first win on the Ally Pally stage and he will feel a lot better for it. He is still in need of a win if he is to keep his tour card and avoid a trip back to Q school, so he is not without pressure to win this.

Barney will have a lot of crowd support and his record in this Championship is historically good. He won it in 2007 and has reached one other final and five other semi-finals. However, the last good run he had was in 2018 when he reached the quarter final.

Barney is a journeyman pro these days, dining out on the glory years and picking up the odd Players Championship title. He is still better than average, and better than Nick Kenny. He has won five of his last ten matches and he generally can take care of the run of the mill players.

Since he came out of retirement, Barney has played three second round matches here, lost one 1-3 to Rob Cross, and posted two 3-1 wins over Miekle and Szaganski.

2025 PDC WC Saturday evening Tip: 0.5 point Raymond van Barneveld to win 3-1 @ 3.80 with Fitzdares

Luke Littler vs. Ryan Meikle

Meikle was poor in his 3-2 win over Fallon Sherrock on Tuesday. He was OK on the doubles, it was just his scoring that was weak, averaging 83.5. he has won five of his last ten matches and has shown no sort of consistency. Meikle has never got beyond the second round in his previous four visits to the Ally Pally, and it is very unlikely that will change tonight.

Luke Littler will have the crowd on his side and he will use that to get fired up, even though he hardly needs to. He will want a statement win. 3-0 and a ton plus. None of this ‘just win the first round and come back after Christmas’ nonsense.

Meikle has not had the pleasure of being beaten by Littler yet, but it looks very likely that he will tonight. Littler to win 3-0 is just 1.58 and he is the 1.06 favourite to win. No bet.

2025 PDC WC Saturday evening Tip: No Bet

Damon Heta vs. Conor Scutt

This has the potential to be a cracker. Conor Scutt hit a rare first round ton plus average in his 3-0 win over Ben Robb. He only lost one leg and it was a nice opening win to settle into the tournament. He lost at this stage last year, a 0-3 defeat to Gerwyn Price.

Scutt has won six of his last ten matches, and he has not been that consistent, hitting three sub 90 averages and three ton plus. He is not the finished article just yet, but he does not lack for confidence.

Damon Heta has issues with the stage. He has reached six ranking major quarter finals, and a semi-final, but a player with his talent will feel he should have done better. He might be getting a bit frustrated by not yet winning on TV yet.

The Heat reached the semi-final of the UK Open earlier this year, but then went out in the first round of the Matchplay, the Grand Prix and the European Championships. He did reach the third round at the Players Championship finals.

Heta has won seven of his last ten matches, hit five ton plus averages and three more 97+. There is nothing wrong with his game, but his head is a bit suspect.

Average Ally Pally Record

Heta’s record here is not great. His best result was a fourth round defeat last year. He has won three of his four first round taches, but this is a tricky one for him.

Scutt has been hitting the 180s at a healthy rate recently, 0.37 per leg in his last four. Damon Heta is ranked 8th for 180s per leg over the last 12 months, but his 180 radar has been off target recently, hitting just five in his last four matches at a rate of just 0.11 per leg.

Damon Heta is the 1.62 favourite, Scutt 2.38, and it is Heta who is attracting the money. They have met twice, both times in 2023, and it is one win each. Scutt is 1.95 to have the most 180s and over 10.5 is just 2.00. There is no value there.

Scutt is not the finished article yet, but he is very confident, and I am not sure Heta will be. He is expected to go deep in the Majors and the fact that he has struggled to do that in 2024 might just be getting to him. Playing a confident youngster with nothing to lose is not the draw he needed.

2025 PDC WC Saturday evening Tip: 1 point Conor Scutt to win @ 2.38 with Fitzdares

-JamesPunt