2025 European Championship Friday Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2025 European Championship Friday preview. He landed three winners from six bets yesterday, hopefully we do even better this evening.

Niko Springer vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Springer has won five of his last ten matches and is playing at a good level, if lacking the consistency of the very top players.

Jermaine Wattimena has been playing godlike darts, most of the time. He has won eight of his last ten matches and the two he lost both saw sub 90 averages. He lost those matches rather than being beaten. If he can get rid of those duff games, the sky is the limit.

This will be their fifth match and Springer has won three, but it was Wattimena who won 6-4 when they met ten days ago. That was a floor evet and Springers three wins all came on the Euro Tour.

Tricky Match

We are on Wattimena outright and this is a very tricky opening match. Wattimena is the 1.67 favourite, Springer 2.30. Probably about right given how strong Wattimena’s A game is right now. If he brings that to the oche tonight, he wins, if not then Springer is more than capable of winning.

When they met a few days ago, Wattimena averaged 101.34, and Springer still made a match of it. Wattimena seems to bring out the best in Springer and this could be close. Three of their four matches have been over 9.5 legs.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Boylesports

Gary Anderson vs. Cameron Menzies

Anderson is 5-1 against Menzies, and I wonder if the younger player is a bit in awe of St. Gary of Anderson. He is a darting deity north of the border and a bit like the young Dutch players being intimidated by MVG (like Nijman missing seven match darts against him last night), some to the Scottish players are half beaten before they get on stage with Anderson.

At least Menzies did win their last match, a 6-3 win back in March, but Anderson was in poor form that day.

Anderson has won seven of his last ten matches but as is his way, he has prepared for this by not playing darts. It is two and a half weeks since he lost Grand Prix semi-final against Danny Noppert.

Anderson made the quarter finals here last year in what was his first European Championship appearance for eight years. The Euro Tour, and hence this Championship has been very low on his list of priorities.

Debut

Menzies is making his tournament debut, which is a sign that his game is better now than it ever has been. He is a serious player these days and not just a bit of a joker in the pack.

Menzies also made the Grand Prix quarter finals but he has played in two Players Championships and a Euro Tour since then. He has won five of his last ten Matches and is playing quite well, consistent mid-90 averages, so he should at least be able to give Anderson a match.

Anderson is the 1.57 favourite, Menzies 2.70. A lot depends on how much Anderson wants this? When he has bothered to turn up for Euro Tour events he has usually played well, so I presume he will be up for it, but maybe it would have been better to actually play some darts between this and the Grand Prix.

The outright odds are about right and I am happy to skip on this one. No bet.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: No Bet

James Wade vs. Mike de Decker

Wade is something of a tournament specialist, reaching three of the last seven finals and losing just one first round match in his last nine appearances. His recent form sees just four wins from his last ten matches, but he is actually playing well, just running into some huge averages from opponents.

Mike de Decker has won six of his last ten matches and while his consistency isn’t great, his A game is punchy. He is a dangerous opponent in this best of eleven leg format.

Their H2H record is 4-4. Last year, De Decker beat Josh Rock 6-1 in the first round, but it was more a case of Rock not turning up as De Decker only averaged 90, before he lost to Noppert in the second round.

Wade is the 1.73 favourite, De Decker 2.20. We are on Wade outright and I will sit this one out as, while I do fancy Wade to win, the odds are about right.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: No Bet

Josh Rock vs. Ricardo Pietreczko

Rock has played in three European Championships and won just one match. He doesn’t have many good memories to draw upon. He is also not in great form, losing six of his last eight matches.

Josh is playing better than that sounds but he will be getting frustrated. He lost two Euro Tour finals in 2025 and lost a recent Players Championship final. He has reached two Major semi-finals but he expects to be winning titles, not just getting close. His body language does suggest that he is frustrated.

Home Advantage

Ricardo Pietreczko will enjoy the home advantage. German crowds are getting increasingly partisan and the ‘away’ players are not getting a fair hearing. Dave Chisnall will attest to that.

Pikachu has played in two European Championships and won both his first round matches and reached the quarter finals last year, his best result in a Major. His recent form sees just four wins from his last ten matches and his wins have been against journeymen pros.

Confidence Low

Rock is the better player, but a bit low on confidence. He will also face a hostile crowd, but he is used to playing in Germany and has faced a home player on five occasions in 2025. Worryingly, he lost four of those, including one to Pietreczko, but his only win against a home player was against Pietreczko in ET12.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Rock. The Northern Irishman is the 1.25 favourite, which is on the short side given that he is the away player and who has struggled playing German players in Germany. He is the better player, by some margin, but this could be tough.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 1 point Ricardo Pietreczko to win +2.5 legs @ 1.91 with Betfred, Boylesports

Luke Humphries vs. Krzysztof Ratajski

This a tougher draw than Humphries may have expected as the number five seed. Ratajski left it late to qualify and that means his recent form has been good. He needed to win a couple of matches last weekend and he did better than that and reached the semi-final of the German Darts Championship. He played quite well, but nothing special. Ratajski is that kind of player, solid, steady and ready to take any chance presented to him.

Luke Humphries didn’t play last weekend, preferring to take some time out as we head into the busiest time of the year. Humphries took a bit of a thrashing from Luke Littler in the final of the Grand Prix, but he did beat Ratajski 3-1 in the second round. Humphries has won six of his last ten matches and has won all four of his first-round matches in the European Championship.

H2H

Their H2H record is 6-3 to Humphries and he has won their last six in a row. They met in this event in 2022 and Humphries won that 6-4, his first win over Ratajski. They met here again in 2023 in the second round and Humphries won that 10-5.

Humphries is the 1.35 favourite, Ratajski 3.30. Cool Hand is 1.62 giving up a -1.5 leg handicap but I am going to have a small stakes’ correct score bet. Humphries has not had much trouble beating Ratajski, but the Pole is good enough to win a few legs.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 0.5 point Humphries to win 6-3 @ 5.50 with Livescorebet, Betfair

Luke Littler vs. Raymond van Barneveld

The most interesting match of the evening. Littler is the overwhelming favourite at 1.17, Barney the 6.00 outsider.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Littler, but when they played three weeks ago it was a 6-2 win for Van Barneveld. It was a floor event, and Littler doesn’t care much for them, but it was a good match. Barney averaged 104.36 and Littler 101.78, so it wasn’t like he was messing about.

If I am right, Barney is going to get the crowd on his side and Littler is going to get a frosty reception, at best. He hates playing in Germany and this is his first visit since he announced that he was boycotting playing in the country. The Nuke may well blow Barney away, but I am giving the outsider some support here, for small stakes.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 0.5 point Van Barneveld to win @ 6.00 with SpreadEx

Nathan Aspinall vs. Rob Cross

Aspinall could hardly be in better form, coming here on the back of winning last weekend’s German Darts Championship, his third Euro Tour title of the year. He has won nine of his last ten matches and is playing very well.

Rob Cross fell over the qualifying line as the 32nd seed. He is a bit of a mystery, he plays well enough, scores well, but struggles to win many matches. He has lost five of his last ten matches and is playing OK.

Their H2H record is 12-8 to Aspinall and he has won their last their last eight in a row.

Aspinall is a generous 1.67 favourite, given his current form and that H2H record.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 2 points Nathan Aspinall to win @ 1.67 with SpreadEx, Betfred

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Danny Noppert

Dirk was doing special things last weekend, hitting a nine darter one day and a 117.74 average the next. He went on to reach the final but lost that to Aspinall. So where does that leave him? In very good form, or in a huff because he lost another final?

Noppert was runner up in ET12 a month ago, reached the semi-final of the Grand Prix and a quarter final last weekend. He loses a lot of quarter and semi-finals, but he wins a lot of matches before he gets there. In this event, in this venue, his form figures are QF/QF/SF/SF, so he will be very comfortable getting up on the stage tonight.

Their H2H record is 12-6 to Danny Noppert. He is the unfashionable one of the two players but he usually gets the better of his fellow Dutchman. Most of the best of eleven leg matches have been close with nine from twelve seeing over 9.5 legs.

Dirk is the 1.73 favourite, Noppert 2.20 and he is being backed, and I can see why.

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 1 point Danny Noppert to win @ 2.20 generally available

2025 European Championship Friday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes, Betfred, Boylesports

-JamesPunt