2025 WM Darts Thursday Night Preview – JP
2025 WM Darts Thursday Night Preview
James kept things ticking over with two winners from his four tips yesterday. His 2025 WM Darts Thursday Night previews and tips are below.
Gian Van Veen vs. James Wade
Our 67.00 e/w shot, James Wade looks to carry his good form into a semi-final. He faces the talented World Youth Champion, Gian Van Veen.
Van Veen is playing well, winning six of his last ten matches and playing with a good deal of consistency, rarely dipping below a 95 average. His seasonal average is pretty much 98.00, and in his last ten he has bettered that six times and only dropped below 95 twice. We have to expect another strong performance.
James Wade is also in good form, winning eight of his last ten matches, but he is not quite as consistent. In those last ten he has hit three sub 90 averages, but he has played above his seasonal average of 94.77 six times, and in both his matches this week he has averaged over 102.
Punishing Mistakes
James Wade has been a very successful player without ever being one to hit massive averages. His strength has been finishing, taking his chances, punishing mistakes, often with his third dart.
Wade has been the better player this week, but there is not much in it. Van Veen has the higher ceiling, but Wade is much more experienced in these big matches on the TV stage, and on this Blackpool stage in particular.
Looking at all the playing stats, Van Veen is the better in almost every metric, including checkout % ( Wade 42.85, Van Veen 44.94%), but Wade has won nine quarter final matches on this very stage, including last year when he beat Ross Smith 16-10. Smith played well, and averaged 99.87, but Wade was just that bit better on 100.30. Van Veen is only really starting out on his career at the top level and has not yet got the track record to go with his game, but that will come.
H2H
They have met ten times before and Wade has won seven. In 2025, it is 1-1 with Wade winning a match last month 6-4. They have played one longer format match on a TV stage before, in the 2023 European Championship semi-final. Wade won that 11-9. That remains Van Veen’s deepest run in a ranking major championship, but he has reached two quarter finals since then.
This is something of a youth vs. experience clash. There is not a lot between the two playing wise or form wise, and you can argue a case for both.
The market makes Gian van Veen the 1.67 favourite with Wade 2.30. I am a little surprised, I expected to see both around the 1.91 mark. It is hard to predict the winner with any great confidence.
Any value may well lie with Wade, but we are looking at a nice profit if he does win this match. I am not keen to be backing either payer at the odds. I would have considered a hedge on Van Veen, but we only have a point risked and Van Veen doesn’t look great value at 1.67.
Looking at the last five years of Matchplay quarter finals and exactly 50% ended with a score line of under 27.5 legs and 50% over. Only one match required extra time. For this match the market makes over 27.5 the 1.83 favourite and under 2.10. I have to agree. I would expect a close match if both players continue in the same vein (or should that be Veen?).
It has to be a no bet for me and fingers crossed that Wade can progress.
2025 WM Darts Thursday Night Tip: No Bet
Stephen Bunting vs. Jonny Clayton
Another of our outright ante-post selections, Jonny Clayton, attempts to cross the line into the pay-out zone by beating one of the form players of 2025, Stephen Bunting.
Bunting’s recent form sees eight wins from his last ten matches. His 12-10 win over Gary Anderson was laboured, as indeed was his first round 10-8 win over Ryan Joyce. He was the better player in both matches, but he just was not able to dominate. Bunting’s seasonal average is 97.67 and he has bettered that in six of his last ten matches
Jonny Clayton is in much the same boat. He only just covered the handicap in both is matches so far, beating Schindler 10-7 and Mike De Decker 11-8. He has won seven of his last ten matches and has outperformed his seasonal average of 96.44 in eight of them.
H2H
Their H2H record is 11-5 to Bunting but over their last eight, going back to 2022, it is 4-4. They have only ever played one long format match and that was way back in the 2017 Players Championship finals, which Clayton won 10-8.
Bunting has been the better player over the last year, but there is not much in it and if anything, Clayton’s form has picked up in the last few months. In his last fifty matches, The Ferret has a win rate of 74%. His most recent form is very consistent scoring wise, and he is an experienced big match player.
Clayton has already had two good runs in the 2025 Majors with a semi-final at the UK Open and final of the World Masters. He wants to get back into the Premier League and knows that if he wins a big tournament, that should open the door.
The money has been going down on Clayton and he is now the marginal 1.91 favourite with Bunting a 2.00 chance in places. Most firms have it as a toss-up and I am finding it hard to split them.
I am happy to hedge here. If Clayton were to lose, and it is 50-50 in my mind, I would be annoyed not to have had a cover bet on Bunting at 2.00.
