Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 PDC World Darts Championship | First Round

Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!

This is a fascinating match-up on paper as Ryan Joyce meets Darius Labanauskas with the winner going on to meet Danny Noppert in the second round

Start date/time: Tuesday 17th December, 2024, UK – not before 3:45pm / US ET – not before 10:45am / US PT – not before 7:45am

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – DAZN

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / US – DAZN

Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas Prediction

Ryan Joyce returns to Ally Pally for his seventh appearance and he will be under some pressure to do better in this tournament having under achieved in recent years. He reached the quarter-finals on debut in 2019 before losing to Michael van Gerwen but he has failed to go past the second round in the last five years.

That is somewhat surprising for a player of his quality and the man ranked number 33 in the world right now. He has had a good year with some solid displays in major tournaments so he should be well prepared to get off to a winning start here.

Darius Labanauskas missed out on the tournament last year but had played in the five editions prior to that. The Lithuanian number one reached the quarters back in 2020 and has enjoyed some good wins at Ally Pally.

His form in recent years has notably declined however and the 48-year-old has dropped in the rankings to 159. On his day, he is more than capable of troubling any player but we do not see that happening here. Joyce is playing well enough to overcome him and we expect this to be relatively comfortable for him.

Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas Tip: Ryan Joyce to win