The best of the rest: Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson lead Welsh and Scottish hopes at 2026 World Matchplay

While all eyes perhaps will be on the English and the Dutch at the World Matchplay given they have Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen and even Wessel Nijman - there is four players from Wales and Scotland all with fairly good chances.

That is our next analysis point as we assess the chances of Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson, Cameron Menzies and Jonny Clayton. Three experienced World and/or major champions and a player who is very much bouncing back after an Ally Pally meltdown.

Gerwyn Price’s Matchplay is always hard to predict. A history of a final in 2022 would suggest he plays well on the seaside, but 9 wins against 11 losses contradict this. The 2026 version may be even harder than most years for the Iceman, with a poor World Championship campaign and admitting that darts is not his priority whilst playing some of the best darts he has played in years; it proves a tricky task.

Looking into the stats, Gerwyn Price started 2026 in a blaze, averaging 99.97 for the first four months, and a first nine of 108.77 secured him in the Premier League play-off spots and led him to a European Tour title in Sindelfingen and a Players Championship 6 win.

Yet, since his Premier League semi-final exit to Littler 9-10, in which Price averaged 100.42 in a match he nearly turned around, Price hasn’t seemed the same. A drop of nearly two points in the averages and first-round exits in the last two consecutive Players Championships, the fire may have already gone out.

2021 World Champion Price has failed to win the World Matchplay despite ten consecutive appearances at the top of his game. 2025 produced a quarter-final run, averaging 100+ twice, including a 108.73 average against Dobey, showing the ceiling is there for Price. Price will expect at least a quarter-final, and only defending a last 16 from 2024, this is an opportunity for Price to add some extra ranking money. 2022 was a special year, hitting a nine-darter and a final was elite.

What made 2022 so special? Beating De Sousa in the quarter-final with an average of 104.64 and Noppert in the semi-finals 17-11 with a 102.37, Price seems to find his best form in terms of averages on the Matchplay. Taking off the sugarcoating, 2022 was an open draw and facing the Freeze Noppert in the semi-final was a gift he can’t expect.

To progress past Schindler in the first round, he must find this ton-topping performance, and with his form, this can happen. He walked into 2022 as the second seed, a 2022 Players Championship 7 winner, and a European Tour titleholder. Looking at 2026, this is the same formula except for the second seed. The foundations are laid, but will his priorities get in the way?

Price plays an out-of-sorts Schindler in the first round. Currently averaging five points below Price and starting the year averaging 91.57, a recovery road has been embarked on but is far from finished.

Making his debut in 2022, Schindler has failed to win a match on the Winter Gardens stage, and even with Price’s checkout percentage of 39.12%, his weakest part of his game, triumphing over Schindler’s declining 36.31%, it’s hard to see past a Price win. Despite the distractions away from darts, Price should make easy work of The Wall.

After a Matchplay semi-final last year, many wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking Clayton’s 2025 was going to be his best in years. 2026 has blown all expectations, and although not winning a single tour title, four Premier League nightly wins and missing a match dart in the semi-finals to reach the Premier League of Darts final nearly matches the prize money won in 2025 in just seven months of 2026.

Not just this; his stats have remained remarkably consistent, with a 96.39 average and a first nine of 105.15 in the most recent three months of 2026, which has made this patch of form unexpected. Two finals in 2026 in Players Championship events whilst averaging 111.21 on the way to the Players Championship 19 event, and a European Tour final in Belgium is actually strong form, although the lack of titles. A UK Open quarter-final adds to what’s been a really solid year for the ferret, and the Matchplay may continue this form.

Finalist in 2023. Semi-finalist in 2025. Apart from these results, Clayton won just one match in his first four Matchplay appearances before the 2023 final transformed his record. The last of these came in 2022; the 2023 final was unexpected and transformed his Matchplay record.

Since then, Clayton has four wins and two losses, meaning he goes into the Winter Gardens this year not just in better form than last year's semi-final, but as a Premier League player. This confidence sits in the exact format as 2023’s Clayton. Therefore, is a deep run expected for Clayton, or can Damon Heta put a stop to his recent hot streak?

Damon Heta has had a really disappointing last 12 months. Losing to Jonny Clayton in the Matchplay last year, Heta hasn’t recovered, with his average dipping below 94 for the first time in two years, averaging 93.95 in the last three months. It isn’t just his average; Heta’s once-trademark finishing has declined to a relatively average 40.17%, meaning he doesn’t have any qualities that can lead him to win. Yet, a recent European tour semi-final could suggest the Matchplay could be the fuel that gets his engine running again. The only number giving Heta confidence will be his first three of 105.48, but this number only just matches Clayton’s first nine. A result anything but a comfortable win would be a shock.

Gary Anderson plays the fourth-best darts statistically in the world. The World number 12 experienced a World Championship semi-final and two Players Championship semi-finals this year, showing he would be walking into the Winter Gardens as one of the players to beat. At odds of 33/1 to pick up the title, the 2018 World Champion has the same odds as debutant Kevin Doets and isn’t being treated as the fourth-best player statistically.

Averaging an elite 97.84 in the last three months and a consistent 107.24 first nine average, his power scoring will be one of the best to walk into the Winter Gardens in 2026. Recent outbursts on the dartboards, describing them as “absolutely rank, the worst dartboards ever” to Assendelft Media BV, Anderson seems to be put off playing and has played just 49 games this year. Will this sharpness affect his game?

Winning it in 2018, Anderson’s World Matchplay history is decorated in the years before 2021. Runner-up in 2020, this was the last time Anderson would win more than one match at the Winter Gardens, experiencing three last 16s and two first-round exits since. This poor form, with only one average above 100, shows that Anderson’s best doesn’t come out on that stage in recent years. Losing to Bunting in the second round last year with a 91.70 average, Anderson will aim to avoid this.

Without consistent floor form across the full season, sustaining that level across a full week could prove harder than his peak stats suggest. The World Championship Semi-Final is the strongest indicator that the stage produced a better Anderson. Other positive aspects have been his finishing, with a Double 16 hit rate of 51.15%. Whilst being his second-choice double, this versatility could dig him out of serious pressure points in the leg format. A deciding leg average of 114.57 in 2026, Joyce’s 84.79 would suggest that a close game would favour Anderson, and that’s generous to Joyce.

Relentless Joyce has endured a poor 2026. An average of 90.69, Anderson sits seven points higher and with greater stage experience; Joyce’s collapse means that despite Anderson’s match sharpness, he should make easy work of Joyce.

Clinical on his doubles, a 63.64% on Double 8 is a lifeline. He will just need to get to this double, and this looks unlikely. A first nine only 0.35 points higher than Anderson’s overall average, Joyce would be lucky to see a dart at double eight. The board complaint would be his only uncertainty, and with gold points harbouring this, everything points towards Anderson advancing comfortably.

Cameron Menzies goes into his second World Matchplay appearance in a completely different headspace to his first. Busting a 178 in 2025 against Noppert, who was experiencing his best year on tour so far, the debut was always going to be tough, and with a 2-10 scoreline, it's one to forget. But this year's Menzies is unrecognisable from the one who punched a table at Alexandra Palace after losing to Charlie Manby.

A Players Championship 23 title, beating Josh Rock on the way, and quitting his plumbing job to go professional full-time tells a story of transformation that no stat can capture. Not all the stats are positive, however. A deciding leg average of 88.34, a checkout percentage of 37.43%, and not finishing in the top twenty percent on any segment of the board means that the floor form is still some way off his 2025 peak.

Inconsistency defines 2026 Menzies: beating Price averaging 106.00 in Slovakia one week, losing to Maik Kuivenhoven in the Last 128 the next. The Matchplay will get one version or the other.

Luke Humphries is the draw Menzies would have feared most. Arriving with every metric at its highest point simultaneously in eighteen months, a first nine of 112.00 and a match darts checkout of 57.45% means Humphries is walking onto the Winter Gardens stage as close to unbeatable as any player in the draw.

A 20-percentage-point gap in match darts checkout and 15 points separating their deciding-leg averages tell the statistical story clearly. Yet, Menzies beat the eighth seed Rock and former world champion Price in the same week before Blackpool, proving that on his best days, the upset isn't impossible. In 2025, Humphries was the final obstacle before the title. Menzies is the first. At 150/1, the odds price near-certain defeat. The data suggests merely probable defeat, and in a single match, that's the only argument Menzies needs.