2026 WM Darts Tuesday Preview & Tips – JP
2026 WM Darts Tuesday Preview & Tips
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2026 World Matchplay Darts Tuesday preview and tips. James fired in two winners from four bets last night and was a missed Doets double away from making it three.
R1 Reflections
The first round was difficult prediction wise and yielded a loss of -0.55 points. Worse was that Luke Humphries got dumped out last night and that cost us two points from the outright bets.
The second-round matches start tonight and we have a slightly longer format. Best of 21 legs (sudden death at 13–13).
The tournament has largely run to form so far. Of the top 16 seeds, we only lost three in the first round. Noppert and Dobey were no great surprises and we backed against them accordingly, but Humphries going out was. He went out at the same stage last year to Van Veen, but he was a very short price favourite against Menzies last night.
Gary Anderson vs. Jonny Clayton
Anderson hit the highest average of the first round with his 109.96 when beating Ryan Joyce 10-2. The big question now is, can he back it up? Anderson has lost five of his last ten matches, hit four ton plus averages, but three sub-90s. He has hit seven back-to-back ton plus averages in his last fifty matches, so I think that we shouldn’t be expecting another whopper.
Jonny Clayton has won six of his last ten matches and is playing with a good deal of consistency, but just not at the scoring level that Anderson has. No tons for Clayton, but everything is 90+. It looks like Clayton needs to up his game or hope that Anderson has a sub 90 kind of match.
H2H Close
Their H2H record is 11-10 to Anderson. Most of their form is quite old. They have not met this year but had two matches in 2025. One was a 10-3 win for Clayton in the UK Open, the other a 6-1 victory for Anderson in a Euro Tour match.
Anderson is the 1.73 favourite, Clayton 2.20. Anderson has played thirteen second round matches at the Matchplay and lost nine. Clayton has played four and lost two. The last long format match they played was in the UK Open last year. In that match, Anderson averaged 100.07 and checked out at 43%. Clayton was 97.86 and checked out at 59%.
We sort of know what to expect from Clayton. A solid mid-nineties average, but which Gary Anderson turns up is not so easy to predict. When he played in this year’s UK Open, Anderson opened up with a 107.43 and followed that with a 105.80. He was in better form back then, however.
I am just going to have to pass on this one. Clayton is tempting, but I was hoping for better than 2.20. No bet.
2026 World Matchplay Darts Tuesday Tip: No bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
MVG beat Andrew Gilding 10-6 in round one, but he was far from convincing. His doubling was off and he was lucky that Gilding didn’t play well. Van Gerwen has won six of his last ten matches and is scoring well, but his doubling is very hot and cold. When he starts missing a few, he is vulnerable.
Dirk beat Dodgy Dobey in round one. It was a 13-11 win and Dobey was the better player, but it was a stage match and we have seen that movie before. Dirk has won six of his last ten matches but is not playing well. Seven sub 93 averages is not the kind of darts that will get you very far in a tournament such as this.
Their H2H record is 13-4 to MVG but Dirk has won two of their last three. MVG is 4-1 on TV.
MVG Beatable
Van Gerwen is beatable, I just not sure Dirk is the man to do it. Van Duijvenbode has played three second round matches here and lost two. MVH has played fourteen and won nine.
Van Gerwen is the 1.57 favourite, Dirk 2.60. Van Duijvenbode is likely to get stressed at some point and when he loses his head, he is a goner. MVG is not the winning machine he once was but he should win this one.
2026 World Matchplay Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point Van Gerwen to win -2.5 legs @ 2.20 with Betfred
Luke Littler vs. Nathan Aspinall
With Humphries out, they should just etch Littler’s name onto the trophy and get it over with. He beat Niko Springer 10-6 in round one, averaging 109.53. Springer did well to win six legs but it was a slow start from Littler, who moved up a few gears when it was 5-5 at the second break.
These longer format matches just make life easier for him. He has the time to get himself out of trouble, if he needs to. Littler has won eight of his last eight matches and hit eight 97+ averages. He has hit a ton plus average in 56% of his last 50 matches.
Aspinall beat Joe Cullen 10-5 in round one and hit a 105.32 average. He has won seven of his last ten matches and hit three ton plus averages. His absolute A game could cause Littler problems but does he really believe that he has a chance?
Lopsided H2H
Their H2H record is 16-3 to Littler. The Asp did get two wins against Littler last summer in World Series events but Littler is a Major player. He cares not a jot about World Series matches. They have only played in two ranking TV Majors and Littler won both. There was a 5-2 win at the 2025 World Championship, and an 11-8 win in last year’s Players Championship Finals.
Littler is the 1.20 favourite, Aspinall 5.50. Hard to argue with. For this match, I will have a play on the 180s market. Both are big maximum hitters.
In their last long format tv match, they hit thirteen in nineteen legs. In his first-round match Aspinall hit nine 180s in fifteen legs, Littler hit seven in sixteen. That is bang on his seasonal average for 180s, but he only hit one in the first ten legs as he took time to get up to speed.
These two are pals and they will be playing this like an exhibition match. It will be entertaining and could be a 180 fest.
2026 World Matchplay Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point over 12.5 180’s @ 1.75 with Ladbrokes, Unibet, Betfair
Josh Rock vs. Stephen Bunting
Bunting has lost five of his last ten matches and while he is generally scoring well, he is struggling to convert good performances into as many wins and titles as he should be. His record in this event sees him playing four second-round matches and winning two.
Josh Rock has only played in three Matchplays and won his only second round match, en route to making the semi-final last year. Rock has won six of his last ten matches but he hasn’t been playing great.
Five sub 92 averages, including a 90.42 in his first-round win over Luke Woodhouse. That was the very first match in the tournament and both players underperformed big time. Rock is a bit dodgy on the doubles right now, with half his last ten games seeing checkout rates of under 28%.
H2H
Their H2H record is 6-3 to Bunting, but Rock has won three of their last four. They have played one long format TV match and that saw a 10-7 win for Rock in this year’s UK Open. That was poor quality match where Bunting was dreadful on the doubles, missing twenty one. It has been a theme in their last three matches, all this year.
Almost every time they gave met, one of the two has just had a doubling nightmare. Perhaps Rock’s dubious doubling will be the deciding factor this time?
