2024 World Grand Prix: Monday's free darts tips, best bets, schedule and results - Tough test for Luke Littler in tournament opener

Luke Littler stars on the opening night of the tournament but he faces a stiff test in the form of Rob Cross.

The teenager has won the previous five head-to-head encounters, including a comfortable 8-3 victory at the Polish Darts Masters four months ago.

Cross has picked up just one win over Littler in eight meetings this year and his current form doesn't fill us with much confidence either.

Littler enjoyed some half-decent runs in the recent Players Championship events and we're backing him to prevail this Monday night.

Another much-anticipated clash on day one sees Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting go toe-to-toe in Leicester.

Humphries got the better of the Bullet in the Players Championship 26 final, claiming a 8-7 success. Incredibly, Bunting reached the final in the last three Players Championship events, only to endure defeat in all of them.

This is expected to be a high-quality contest and we're backing the highest finish to be over 130.

Jonny Clayton will be looking to make an impact when he takes on Ritchie Edhouse in the first round. The Welshman isn't at his very best, but we are backing him to underline his experience on the big stage and stamp his place in the next round.

The same goes for Nathan Aspinall who takes on Ryan Searle. The Asp is far from his best form, but he does have three wins over Searle in four recent head-to-head encounters. With that in mind, we're sticking Aspinall in our Monday acca.

 

World Grand Prix - Monday acca

Luke Littler to beat Rob Cross (4/9)

Luke Humphries vs Stephen Bunting - highest finish over 130 (13/8)

Jonny Clayton to beat Ritchie Edhouse (8/15)

Nathan Aspinall to beat Ryan Searle (11/10)

 

Who will win the 2024 World Grand Prix?

Luke Humphries will be looking to defend the title he won 12 months ago, while there’ll be plenty of dangerous opponents in the way for Cool Hand, not least the teenage sensation Luke Littler.

Michael Smith, Michael Van Gerwen and Gary Anderson are some of those who would love to halt the darting dominance of the Lukes.

With a unique double-in format, it provides players with a chance to reintroduce themselves to set play, with the annual Ally Pally bash now firmly in the sights of the world’s finest.

Here at Planet Sport, we make our predictions for the World Grand Prix including overall winner, an each-way pick and quarter-winners.

 

World Grand Prix tips

Luke Humphries to win - 4/1

Gary Anderson each-way - 12/1

Michael Van Gerwen to win his quarter - 13/8

 

Luke Humphries to win

Since winning this event last year, Humphries has been dominating the darting world, winning the World Championship, the Grand Slam and the World Matchplay.

Given his number one ranking, Humphries has one of the easier looking paths to Sunday’s final, with the likes of Raymond Van Barneveld and Jonny Clayton potential opponents. After that there could me a mouthwatering semi-final with Littler, should the 17-year-old get through his tough test with Rob Cross in round one.

Cool Hand faces Stephen Bunting first up and the Bullet had a disappointing week in the Players Championship with three final defeats in a row including one to Cool Hand.

Humphries has become the set play king and he will avoid the likes of Van Gerwen and Anderson until the final, should he make it that far, so 4/1 looks a good price for another Humphries televised title.

 

Gary Anderson each-way

Anderson has very much looked like the Flying Scotsman of old in 2024, with the two-time world champion leading the PDC form guide heading into the Leicester event. 

The world number 24 may not be the big hitter he once was, but the stats don’t lie and the Scot is having a resurgence.

In his last 200 legs, he has averaged 100.63 and has hit 42.22% of his doubles in that same time period.

He does have a tough bracket, with a first round tie against Michael Smith and potential match-ups with the likes of Gerwyn Price, James Wade and Damon Heta should he get through that test with Bully Boy.

Despite that we think Anderson at 12/1 could be a wise each-way bet as he does have calibre in major tournaments.

 

Michael Van Gerwen to win his quarter

MVG may not be the tournament winning titan we know he can be at the moment, but you can never rule him out at the World Grand Prix.

He is a six-time champion in this competition, the most of any active player and he loves this double-in tournament.

His draw looks favourable on paper, with Dave Chisnall the biggest threat in a quarter that includes UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh and Chris Dobey.

MVG is also fourth in the form guide, having won the Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest two weeks ago, so he is in decent form and should at least make it to the semis in Leicester.

 

Match schedule and results

Monday October 7 (6pm)

Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce
Brendan Dolan v Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton v Ritchie Edhouse
Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Searle
Raymond van Barneveld v Ricardo Pietreczko
Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting
Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Gian van Veen v Ross Smith

Tuesday October 8 (6pm)

Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies
Luke Woodhouse v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mike De Decker v Damon Heta
Peter Wright v James Wade
Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert
Michael Smith v Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
Chris Dobey v Joe Cullen

 

World Grand Prix Prize Money

Winner - £120,000

Runner-up - £60,000

Semi-finalists - £40,000

Quarter-finalists - £25,000

Second round - £15,000

First round - £7,500

 

Tournament Format

First round - Best of three sets

Second round - Best of five sets

Quarter-finals - Best of five sets

Semi-finals - Best of seven sets

Final - Best of nine sets

 

Where to watch

The 2024 World Grand Prix will be available live on Sky Sports in the UK.

Elsewhere, worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers) will show the event.

 

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