Schedule Monday night at 2025 PDC World Darts Championship: Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen & Stephen Bunting in action at the Ally Pally

The final session of darts in 2024 has arrived as the fourth round concludes at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship with the three very intriguing matches, that include the man of the moment Luke Littler, three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen and the people's champion Stephen Bunting.

The winners of the fourth round may return in the new year for the continuation of the World Darts Championship on New Year's Day. The fourth round will be played over a format of best of 7 sets.

We begin the evening session with an English clash between Stephen Bunting and Luke Woodhouse. 'The Bullet' had a rough start to the tournament. He trailed 0-1 in his match against Kai Gotthardt, after which the German missed three chances to lead 0-2. Bunting turned the match around and beat Gotthardt 3-1. Then followed a convincing 4-1 victory over Madars Razma, against whom Bunting recorded an average of 100.06. It is the sixth time Bunting has been in the last sixteen at the PDC Worlds, and he can now qualify for the last eight for a fourth time.

For Woodhouse, this tournament has actually been a success anyway. The Shed' has reached the fourth round for the first time in his career after wins over Lourence Ilagan (3-0), Mike de Decker (3-1) and a thriller against Damon Heta (4-3). A win over Bunting could just be Woodhouse's final breakthrough, after Woodhouse already reached the semifinals of the European Championship in October.

Judging by the head-to-head, things are looking bad for Woodhouse though. Of the previous 11 encounters, no fewer than 10 were won by Bunting. The only time Woodhouse won from his compatriot was at a Players Championship tournament in 2019.

Officially a match between a Dutchman and a Swede, but really this is just a confrontation between two Dutch players. That Van Gerwen is in the last sixteen is not surprising. The 35-year-old Dutchman managed to qualify for this round after wins over James Hurell (3-0) and Brendan Dolan (4-2). Against Dolan, Van Gerwen narrowly avoided a deciding set.

Many people had counted and perhaps hoped for a clash with Gary Anderson at the last sixteen, but the Scot was floored 3-0 by Jeffrey de Graaf in the second round. The Swedish Dutchman also beat Rashad Sweeting (3-1) and Paolo Nebrida (4-1) to reach the last sixteen at the World Darts Championship for the first time in his career. As against Anderson, De Graaf can throw freely, which may make him a dangerous outsider.

To reach the quarterfinals, De Graaf will have to do something he has never done in his career and that is win a match against Van Gerwen. The world number three managed to win the two previous duels between himself and De Graaf comfortably.

Main event of the fourth round comes down to Luke Littler and Ryan Joyce. If both men play like their previous match, Joyce could easily become a dangerous banana skin for The Nuke. Joyce proved against Ryan Searle why he is often so successful due to his good finishes. With a finishing percentage of 62 percent, he drove 'Heavy Metal' to despair several times. Earlier this tournament, Joyce was also responsible for eliminating Darius Labanauskas (3-1) and Danny Noppert (3-1). A win over Littler will see Joyce reach the quarterfinals in London for the second time in his career.

Luke Littler has yet to show his very best on a consistent basis this tournament. His match against Ryan Meikle was shaky, but was won 3-1 in sets, sparkling in the final set with a 140+ average. Then Ian White was defeated 4-1, but it could have been a lot more exciting had White taken his set chances in the first and fourth sets. Moreover, the question is how Littler handles the increased pressure. 'The Nuke' has become even more favourite for the world title among the bookmakers after his rival Luke Humphries was eliminated in the fourth round by Peter Wright. It will be Littler's first time against Joyce.

Sky Sports are broadcasting the entire World Darts Championship in the UK with coverage throughout on a dedicated channel Sky Sports Darts.

A subscription is required to access this though which can be sought on a Sky box or through their streaming platform.

The 96 participants at the 2025 World Darts Championship may divide as much as 2.5 million pounds between them. That amount is almost forty times higher than at the very first edition of the PDC Worlds in 1994.

The 64 participants to start in the first round of the World Darts Championship will receive £7500 in prize money anyway. The top-32 of the seedings list are guaranteed 15,000 pounds. These players enter the World Darts Championship from the second round. The amount then increases further each round. The new world champion will receive the top prize of 500,000 pounds.

First round: Best of 5 sets

Second round: Best of 5 sets

Third round: Best of 7 sets

Fourth round: Best of 7 sets

Quarterfinals: Best of 9 sets

Semifinals: Best of 11 sets

Final: Best of 13 sets

Stephen Bunting v Luke Woodhouse

Michael van Gerwen v Jeffrey de Graaf

Luke Littler v Ryan Joyce