2026 UK Open R5 Preview & Tips – JP
2026 UK Open R5 Preview
James Punt was back on top form last night, landing three winners from four recommended bets. His 2026 UK Open R5 preview and tips are below.
2026 UK Open R4 Reflections
It was three from four for last night rushed bets. A +1.71 points to take the tournament tally to -0.06 points.
Our four outright selections all made it through round four. Their draws for round five could have been worse. Littler faces Kevin Doets and while it is not a given that he wins, he is the 1.11 favourite.
Michael van Gerwen plays Kai Gotthardt and MVG is the 1.22 favourite. Ross Smith will play Daryl Gurney. Smith is 6-8 vs. Gurney but he did win their last match 6-1 in the opening Euro Tour event of the season a couple of weeks ago.
Jonny Clayton will face Daryl Pilgrim for his chance to make round six. The Ferret is 1.30 to win that. Hopefully we can get a full complement into the next round.
There are sixteen matches this afternoon and I am just going to look at the matches that offer up some value, rather than all sixteen.
Martin Lukeman vs. Madars Razma
Neither player is in good form. Lukeman has won four of his last ten matches and has been in very poor form with eight sub 90 averages and two of those were sub 80s. It is a surprise he was able to beat Edhouse and Lovely to get this far.
Madars Razma has also lost six of his last ten matches. He beat Gawlas and Jim Long in the last two rounds. He has averaged under 90 in six of his last seven matches.
Their H2H record is 3-1 to Lukeman, but Razmatazz won their last match 6-4 last year. This match is one that should be hidden from view. It is likely to be a low quality affair and could drag on until one of them falls over the line.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: 1 point over 16.5 legs @ 2.08 with Livescorebet
Gabriel Clemens vs. James Wade
Wade is 8-2 against Clemens and he has won their last eight in a row. Neither player is in great form. Clemens has put in some good performances in his last four matches but he will not be looking forward to facing a player who has beaten him eight times in a row.
Wade is the 1.44 favourite, but Clemens is being backed and is into 3.05. I’ll take Wade on the handicap.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: 1 point James Wade to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 with BET365, Betfair
Stephen Bunting vs. Mensur Suljovic
Suljovic has gone out at the fifth-round stage in five of his last eight UK Opens. He has played well enough in his 10-5 win over Wattimena and 6-2 victory against Lukas Wenig. I would say he appears to be fully motivated and aggressive. He looked like he was going to stick the nut on Wattimena after their match last night.
Bunting had a nice gentle 10-5 warm up over Tricole. Bunting has played Suljovic nine times and lost five of them. The Bullet likes a brisk pace of play and Suljovic can be very slow, especially when he knows the other player likes a good pace. Perhaps Bunting has worked Suljovic out, as he has won their last four matches, but I think that has more to do with Suljovic’s loss of form in the last few years.
The adopted Austrian has played some very good darts lately but remains very inconsistent. He does appear to be a man who is keen to win some prize money and to end his slide down the rankings.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: 1 point Mensur Suljovic to win +3.5 legs @ 1.82 with Livescorebet
Peter Wright vs. Danny Noppert
There have been players suggesting that Wright should just retire from the game. His form has been in the bin for a year or two and he doesn’t need the money. His 12-month average is just 91.00 and his win rate in 2026 is just 29%.
Wright has lost five of his last ten matches, but he played well enough in his 10-6 win over Cameron Menzies last night. Even beating Labanauskas in the third round looked beyond him, but he won that 6-3.
Noppert is the 1.33 favourite to win this, but I am going to oppose him on the handicap. His record in this event is poor. Noppert has lost in the fifth round here for the last three years and while he won the title in 2022, he has never got beyond round five in his seven other appearances.
His recent form has seen six sub 93 averages in his last seven matches. He hit a nine-darter last night, but averaged 92.22. Having drawn the hopelessly out of form Dimitri van den Bergh in round four, Noppert must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when he drew Wright for round five.
Wright will want to shut the naysayers up and he might just be up for this weekend. They played twice last year, both on the floor and it was 1-1 with both requiring a deciding leg.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win + 3.5 legs @ 2.04 with Livescorebet
Gerwyn Price vs. Wessel Nijman
These two played in the final of PC2 a month ago and Nijman won the 8-7. Overall, Price is 5-4 vs. Nijman and five of their nine matches have required a deciding leg.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: 1 point over 16.5 legs @ 1.94 with Livescorebet
Rob Cross vs. Mike de Decker
The Chancellor of the Exchequer will be cheering on Cross as he attempts to win some more cash for the taxman. He played very well to knock Gian van Veen out last night and he is the 1.60 favourite to win this.
However, the thing with Cross is that he is struggling to put two successive good performances together. He has lost five of his last ten matches and his win rate is just 52%. His last four averages have been 90, 101, 90 and 102 and that sums his form up.
Mike de Decker is in the same boat. In his last ten games he has hit four sub 90s and three ton plus averages. I was tempted to back De Decker with a +2.5 leg handicap, but two unpredictable dodgepots makes it too tricky to call. No bet.
2026 UK Open R5 Tip: No Bet
Luke Humphries vs. Dave Chisnall
These two have met once since Chisnall lost his form. That was a 3-1 win for Luke at this year’s World Masters, and the only surprise was that Chisnall won a set. Humphries averaged 104 to Chisnall’s 87.
Chisnall is still struggling and Humphries should go through him like he did against Woodhouse last night. Woodhouse played well and lost 3-10. I expect something similar here.
