Stephen Bunting vs. James Hurrell Prediction on December 27, 2025

Match info

The 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship (2026 PDC World Darts Championship) at Alexandra Palace (an entertainment and sports venue in north London, England, UK) is the biggest event on the PDC calendar, with the Sid Waddell Trophy (and a record-level overall prize fund) on the line.

This all-English last 32 (i.e., third round of the top half, section 2); best of seven sets) tie between Stephen Bunting and James Hurrell is where the tournament starts to feel “properly major”: the seeds are fully in, the set format punishes slow starts, and one hot session can flip an entire quarter of the draw. In the early part of the week, this is also one of those matches that pulls attention from low deposit betting sites because it’s a classic “established TV performer vs fearless underdog who’s already landed a scalp” setup. Bunting vs Hurrell is set to start on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at 12:30 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time, local time).

Meeting statistics

Current form and & playstyle: Stephen Bunting

Stephen Bunting (world no. 4) arrives in round 3 looking like a player who’s finally syncing his scoring with his stage-management. He’s already had to “win ugly” in this run — holding his nerve in a tight first-rounder, then looking far more authoritative in round 2 — and you can see the pattern: he likes to build pressure with tidy first nine darts, then cash in with clinical doubling once an opponent’s rhythm wobbles.

He’s also feeding off the Ally Pally crowd in a big way; emotionally, he’s spoken openly about how much the support matters after dealing with online abuse, and that connection can genuinely lift his intensity in short bursts when legs are on a knife-edge.

Current form & playstyle: James Hurrell 

James Hurrell (world no. 63), meanwhile, is playing with the freedom of someone who’s already made his tournament and now has nothing to protect. The storyline is simple: he’s a “Hillbilly” workman-underdog who’s turned the biggest stage into a green light to swing hard. His upset of Dirk van Duijvenbode showed exactly how he wants these matches to look: heavy 180-hunting, big-moment checkouts, and a willingness to scrap through momentum swings rather than needing everything to be perfect. The key question is whether he can keep that high-risk scoring pace when Bunting starts pinning doubles at the first sniff.

Head-to-head

We verified only one prior major/televised head-to-head meeting between Bunting and Hurrell from the sources that clearly list this matchup and event details. Bunting prevailed 6-2 at the Players Championship 27 in 2023.

Match analytics

The set format favors the player with the more repeatable “floor,” and Bunting’s combination of controlled scoring and steadier doubling usually plays better over best of seven sets, especially if Hurrell has even one set where the trebles dry up. Hurrell will likely win a set given his scoring ceiling and the confidence he’s carrying.

Tip: Correct Set Score, 4-1 at 3.40 odds on Librabet.