The current world No. 1 against an unseeded debutant is usually a match-up that occurs in the early rounds of the World Darts Championship, and usually only ends one way, with the elder, more experienced and highly ranked player making light work of their progress to the next stage.
However, in the 2024 tournament, those expectations have been turned upside down and launched for a clean 180, time and time again. Luke Humphries, whose 6-0 defeat of Scott Williams in their semifinal last night, is the new world No. 1, but his direct opponent for the Sid Waddell trophy is someone who very few imagined would get this far.
Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld? Beaten. 2018 winner Rob Cross, coming off the back of an unbelievable win in the quarterfinals? Beaten. And now, only Humphries awaits for 16-year-old wonderkid Luke Littler.
With composure that belies his years by some distance and the quality that makes dispatching legends of the sport look like child’s play (literally), many believe that having defied all expectations to reach the showpiece event on his tournament debut, Littler could well go all the way and do the unthinkable — become the World Darts champion just a few months after completing his GCSE’s!
Luke Humphries v Luke Littler prediction, odds
- Moneyline lean: Luke Humphries (-150)
- Score prediction: Luke Humphries 7-5 Luke Littler
It’s going to be an almightily close final based on what we’ve seen from these two excellent players so far in the tournament, but DraftKings think that the 28-year-old will be victorious at Ally Pally, hardly surprising given the dominance he showed to firmly beat Scott Williams 6-0 in the last four — who himself had beaten Michael van Gerwen in the quarterfinals.
While Littler is riding the crest of a wave and looks unstoppable himself, his standing at +120 suggests that the enigmatic 16-year-old will end up on the losing side. He was troubled by Rob Cross at times despite eventually winning convincingly, and Humphries will no doubt do all he can to capitalise on that.
| DraftKings (USA) |
|
| Humphries Win | -150 |
| Littler Win | +120 |
| Winning score of over 11.5 sets | +125 |
| Winning score of under 11.5 sets | -160 |
World Darts Championship final start time
Humphries and Littler will be shooting at the board from 8:00 p.m. GMT on Wednesday, January 3 2024, at the Alexandra Palace in London.
| Country | Date | Time |
| UK | Wednesday, January 3 2024 | 8:00 p.m. GMT |
| USA | Wednesday, January 3 2024 | 3:00 p.m. EST |
| Canada | Wednesday, January 3 2024 | 3:00 p.m. EST |
| Australia | Thursday, January 4 2024 | 7:00 a.m. AEDT |
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler best bet
- Pick: Match to have over 11.5 sets
- Odds: +125
Despite the gulf in age, experience and tournament pedigree, the showings of Humphries, and Littler in particular, suggest that we’re in for a close-run contest that could well go down to the wire.
The scores these two have been racking up on their way to the final have been sublime, shown by them making up five of the top six averages of the tournament so far, and so trying to call the final verdict in this one is ny-on impossible!
Therefore, we think that the battle for the best of 13 legs has a strong chance of creeping very close to that number, and with nothing phasing either Luke during their respective runs to the final, expect both to continue their free-scoring performances.
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler prop bet
- Pick: Either player to hit a 9-dart finish
- Odds: +600 (DraftKings)
We’ve only seen it done 89 times in televised darts history, but given the shocks that we’ve seen throughout this tournament, DraftKings‘ offer of +600 for one to be thrown in this final is simply too good an offer to pass up.
Both Humphries and Littler are playing at the absolute tops of their game, and given the world-famous 9-dart leg played out by Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith exactly one year ago in the 2023 final, lightning may just strike twice on the biggest stage of all.
World Darts Championship final live stream, TV channel
Sky Sports is the home of darts in the UK and will be broadcasting all the build-up and coverage of the final on both their dedicated TV channel and via streaming app Sky Go.
Fans can also use the Championship’s own subscription service PDCTV to watch the action throughout the event.