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World Darts Championship semi-finals prediction & best bets: Littler can dodge The Bullet
Check out our free darts betting tips as we’re down to the last four of the World Darts Championships at Ally Pally
World Darts Championships semi-final betting tips
- Over 28.5 180s in Dobey vs Van Gerwen - 19/10 BoyleSports
- Littler most 180s, highest checkout and to win vs Bunting - 11/10 BetVictor
We’re down to the last four at the World Darts Championships with Michael van Gerwen taking on Chris Dobey before Luke Littler faces Stephen Bunting at Ally Pally tonight, where the action gets underway at 7:45pm.
Most fans would love to see a Van Gerwen vs Littler final, with the latter going for his first title, while the Dutchman is chasing his fourth but Dobey and Bunting will be hoping to cause a shock.
Betting apps have Littler as the favourite to win the tournament at 8/11, ahead of Van Gerwen at 13/5, Bunting at 10/1 and Dobey at 14/1.
Chris Dobey vs Michael van Gerwen prediction
Dobey will play in his first semi-final after coming from two sets down to beat former champion Gerwyn Price 5-3 just a day after he also came from 3-2 down to beat Kevin Doets 4-3.
The best-of-11 format could really suit the world number 15 and Van Gerwen will know he can’t afford to write off the Englishman.
Van Gerwen had to be close to his best to beat unseeded Callan Rydz in the quarter-finals, averaging 103 as he was twice pegged back by his opponent who hit 17 180s in the match.
His experience and quality eventually shone through though as he reached his ninth semi-final at Ally Pally.
The 35-year-old’s last victory came in 2019 but he was a beaten finalist in 2020 and 2023 losing to Peter Wright and Michael Smith respectively.
That experience could prove the difference tonight along with the head-to-head statistics, in which Van Gerwen leads 18-6. However, in the last 13 meetings, the stats are more favourable for the Englishman, who only trails 7-6.
Understandably, darts betting sites make Van Gerwen the favourite at 4/9 with Dobey 11/5 to reach his first final.
Between them, the two players have hit 71 180s in the tournament so far and with the extended nature of the semi-final, we’re expecting them to significantly add to that tally.
World Darts Championship prediction 1: Over 28.5 180s - 19/10 BoyleSports
Stephen Bunting vs Luke Littler prediction
It’s an all-northern affair in the other semi-final as Liverpudlian Bunting takes on Runcorn-born Littler for a place in the final.
Both players are playing in their second semi-finals at Ally Pally but after coming so close 12 months ago Littler is hoping he can go one step further this time around and become the youngest ever winner.
If he is crowned champion the 17-year-old would break the previous record set by Van Gerwen, who was 24 years and nine months when he won his first title back in 2014.
The youngster has been improving round on round and looked in imperious form as he took control over Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals.
He needed less than four minutes to win the first set with an average of 118.66 and he powered to a 5-2 win, but there were some signs of weakness, especially where the bull was concerned.
He hit 15 180s though to take his tally for the tournament to 51, compared to just 17 from tonight’s opponent.
Bunting, who was beaten 6-4 by Gerwyn Price, in his only other semi-final appearance in 2021, reached the last four with a convincing 5-2 win over two-time champion Peter Wright.
He raced to a 4-0 lead against Wright, who earlier knocked out the defending champion Luke Humphries before the Scot pulled two sets back.
In the end he was just too strong as he secured his semi-final place as well as his rise to number five in the world rankings.
The crowd could play a key role tonight, too, with Littler used to being the fan’s favourite but the Bunting Army has been pretty loud over the last few days and they would love this one to go the distance.
Although we expect a good, tough battle we expect Littler to do what he needs to do to reach the final for the second successive year.
Betting sites make Littler no bigger than 2/9 for the win, while you can get 4/1 on Bunting.
World Darts Championship prediction 2: Littler most 180s, highest checkout and to win - 11/10 BetVictor
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