2019-20 PDC World Darts Championship – Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp Preview & Prediction

THE FACTS

When is Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp taking place? Sunday 22^nd December, 2019 – afternoon

Where is Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp taking place? Alexandra Palace, London

What channel is Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp on? Sky Sports Darts

Where can I stream Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go

Where can I get tickets for Darius Labanauskas vs Max Hopp? https://www.pdc.tv/william-hill-world-darts-championship-tickets

What was the outcome in the last meeting? Max Hopp beat Darius Labanauskas 6-0

THE PLAYERS

DARIUS LABANAUSKAS

• Darius Labanauskas is through to the last 32 at the PDC World Championship for the second year in a row, last year at this stage of the tournament he lost 4-0 against Adrian Lewis.
• Labanauskas reached this stage of the 2019-20 tournament having defeated Matthew Edgar in round one and the number nine seed Ian White in round two. White averaged just over 100 in that match making the shock win even more impressive.
• His own average of 96.31 against White is his highest at the PDC World Championship, though he hit the higher mark of 99.06 at the BDO World Championship in 2018.

MAX HOPP

• Max Hopp overcame Dutchman Benito van de Pas in five sets in round two to reach the last 32 at the PDC World Championship for the fourth time in his career. With the match level at two sets apiece the German number one took the decisive fifth set without dropping a leg.
• It was a match where neither player really found consistency in their scoring but Hopp’s final average of 90.01 was almost six points higher than that of his opponent. Both players finished the match with similar checkout stats of around 45%.
• This will be the third time that Hopp and Labanauskas have met in competitive action, with Hopp winning on both occasions – both games were this year and the latest encounter in October was comfortably won 6-0.

THE PREDICTION

One of these players will break new ground by winning this match with neither having reached the last 16 at the PDC World Championship previously. Although Labanauskas did reach the quarters in the BDO World Championship, the rewards at this tournament are much higher and this is a huge opportunity for the winner to pick up a good pay cheque. Hopp is the higher-ranked player and won their previous two meetings but Labanauskas will be coming into this encounter with the confidence of an excellent win over Ian White, he is capable of matching that level of performance against Hopp and is predicted to win this last 32 match.