2025 World Grand Prix Friday Preview – JP
2025 World Grand Prix Friday Preview
James Punt went one from three with his Thursday picks and we now move into the quarter finals. Check out his 2025 World Grand Prix Friday tips below.
Danny Noppert vs. Gary Anderson
Noppert was helped by the fact that Stephen Bunting was playing with a bad back in round 2. The match ended 3-1 but it was closer than that sounds with three sets requiring a deciding leg.
Noppert has won seven of his last ten matches and as Gary says, ‘he’s a proper darts player, hard to beat’. But Gary has beaten him, six times in nine meetings, including a 6-5 win in PC26 last month. The have met on TV three times, Anderson winning two, including a 3-0 win over Noppert in the 2020 Grand Prix.
Solid Form
Anderson has won eight of his last ten matches and his record in Grand Prix quarter finals is played six and won two, the last appearance coming in 2020. He has had quite an easy ride so far, beating Barney 2-1, and a very poor Joe Cullen 3-0. He should find this tougher.
Danny Noppert has played one and won one, back in 2021. Noppert does have a record of losing a lot of quarter finals, but in ranking majors, his record is actually quite good. He has played in eleven major quarter finals and won seven. It is on the Euro Tour and Pro Tour that he struggles in the quarters.
Anderson is the 1.62 favourite, Noppert 2.50. Neither makes any great appeal at those odds. Noppert is a touch too big, Anderson a little too short. It is a no bet match for me.
2025 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: No Bet
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton landed our correct score bet last night with a 3-1 win over Luke Woodhouse. It was a solid performance, as was his first-round win, but he’s going to have to step it up as he gets closer to the final. Woodhouse missed a load of doubles, the match was there for the taking and Clayton took it.
Dirk van Duijvenbode was very impressive in a 3-0 win over Daryl Gurney. He scored well and did everything right, ending up with an impressive 96.40 average. After beating MVG in the first round, he will be feeling good about how things have gone so far.
Inconsistent
Van Duijvenbode has not been playing with any great consistency of late, but he has won seven of his last ten matches. Clayton has won eight of his last ten matches and while he hasn’t been at his best, he is doing enough.
Their H2H record is 10-7 to Clayton, but on TV it is 3-1, including a 2-1 in this in 2022.
If Dirk can bring his A game he will be hard to beat, but he is just as likely to bring his B game and Clayton can beat that. Dirk has played in ten major quarter finals and lost seven. Clayton has played in nineteen and won twelve, including three in 2025. He is the more experienced and accomplished player. Dirk can just get very hard on himself, get frustrated and things can then get away from him.
Clayton is the 1.67 favourite, Dirk 2.30. I prefer the chances of Clayton and the odds are just about good enough.
2025 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: 1 point Jonny Clayton to win @ 1.67 generally available
Luke Littler vs. Gerwyn Price
It wasn’t a great surprise to see a rather flat performance from Littler in his 3-0 win over De Decker. He was so good against Gian van Veen in the first round that it was going to be hard to follow that up with another big display, but he may have to dig deep again tonight.
Price is a player who, like Van Veen, has a good record against Littler. They have met sixteen times and Littler leads 9-7. In 2025 it is 5-4 but it is Littler who has won their last five in a row. Their last match was a 11-10 win for Littler in the World Series semi-finals in Amsterdam last month.
Tough Opponents
Price has had two tough opponents so far. He beat Ryan Searle 2-1 in round 1 and Josh Rock 3-0 last night. Rock was not himself, but it was a good display by Price.
The Welshman has played in five Grand Prix quarter finals and won four. He is quite comfortable and experienced in the format. Price has lost four of his last five major quarter finals, and the only win was in this in 2023.
Littler has only played three Grand Prix matches and lost one. His match against Gian Van Veen was the best first round match ever seen in this tournament and we know that he is a generational talent.
Littler is the 1.50 favourite, Price 2.75. Probably about right. I might make Price 2.50 as his tournament record is strong and you have to take into account that this is a bit different with a double in format. This may be one of those relatively rare matches that needs a fifth set.
2025 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: 1 point over 4.5 sets @ 3.00 with Skybet
Luke Humphries vs. Cameron Menzies
Menzies has had it easy so far. Chris Dobey was terrible in a 0-2 loss to the Scotsman in round 1, and Rob Cross wasn’t a lot better in round two, yet Menzies still dropped seven legs in that match.
Luke Humphries is carrying our last remaining hope of a pay out in the outright market. He has played a couple of slightly odd matches so far. Not great, but not bad.
He beat Aspinall 2-0 and was very good in patches. In Round Two he had to be better against Ratajski and was, averaging 95.58 in a 3-1 win. He did have a few flat spots in that match, and he said that he is struggling to find his best pace. He slowed it down a bit and that helped him, and he says that he knows that if he is struggling, to just go slower and find his rhythm.
Humphries is a back-to-back finalist in this arena and the winner of seven major titles. With all the buzz around Luke Littler, it is easy to forget how good Humphries is.
H2H
Their H2H record is 5-2 to Humphries. Both Menzies’ wins were 6-5 in floor events. Five of their seven matches went to a deciding leg. They last played nine days ago in Players Championship 29, and Humphries won that 6-5. That was their second match of 2025, and the other was another 6-5 for Humphries on the Euro Tour. There is a theme of close matches between the two.
Menzies knows he is the big outsider (4.33) and he is not under any great pressure. He has reached only his second major quarter final and will pick up 25,000 balloons for doing so, with a chance of more. I do expect him to get something from the match but surely Humphries’ experience and tournament record will prevail.
Over the last forty quarter finals only 25% have been won to nil, 40% 3-1, while 35% have required a deciding set, so a lot closer than we have seen from most of this year’s matches.
