Will Bunting play many legs from the front thanks to his scoring?

Florian Hempel and the Alexandra Palace in London are now in their third consecutive year of an intimate love affair. While the Cologne native tends to fly under the radar throughout the year, he always seems to hit form just in time for the highlight at the World Darts Championship. For the second time since 2022, the former handball pro has made it to the third round of the most important tournament on the PDC calendar. However, a real top-class player awaits there in the shape of Stephen Bunting

This is also underlined by the betting odds, which clearly favor the Englishman. Between Hempel and Bunting, the tip on the top 20 player is just 1.20 at the top. If, on the other hand, the German reaches the round of 16 for the first time in his career, the payout would be 4.5 times the stake. At least Hempel shouldn’t lack confidence after his comeback win against van den Bergh in the second round

There are, however, many indications that the German will not be able to keep up with his opponent in the long term, especially in terms of scoring. “The Bullet” presented himself in excellent form in his opening match and would like to finally land a big blow at the World Championship this year. However, even before the Hempel vs. Bunting clash, it can be predicted that the winner of this match will in all likelihood be eliminated in the last 16

Florian Hempel – Statistics & current form

Florian Hempel was already out with one and a half legs in his second round match against Dimitri van den Bergh. The 33-year-old German was not only trailing 2:0 in sets, but was also confronted with three match darts. Van den Bergh missed the huge chance to win the expected favorites match and half an hour later had to congratulate Hempel, who then played like he was unleashed, on reaching the third round.

If the former second division handball goalkeeper can build on the performance he showed in sets four and five on Thursday evening, a surprise coup does not seem out of the question. However, we do not believe that Hempel will play an average close to the 100-point mark and once again check out with a rate of over 60% via the double. Twelve of the total of 19 leg-bringing darts found their target. By way of comparison, van den Bergh hit 10 out of 36, which also means that the German hope is only still in the tournament because his opponent suddenly failed to hit the sea from a moving ship

Florian Hempel has already achieved more than expected

This is one of the reasons why such high odds are being offered on Hempel advancing to the third round match against Bunting. Other reasons are obvious, because on the one hand the Dessau native, who lives in Cologne, has never reached the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship. Secondly, in the run-up to this World Championship it was not even clear that the right-hander would be able to overcome his two opening hurdles again, as he did in 2022.

Hempel was one of the last players to qualify for this tournament at the end of November via the Tour Card Holder Qualifier. However, the 33-year-old failed to achieve much throughout the entire year. At the German Open he reached the round of 16 once and at the UK Open Hempel at least made some noise, but the bottom line is an annual average of not even 90 points per shot.

If he can’t improve this significantly on Thursday, he could be out of the tournament. We don’t think the underdog can win more than one set and are therefore looking at the odds for a 4:1 win for the Englishman in the Hempel vs Bunting knockout match. You can dust off 3.15 for this at Interwetten. Furthermore, you can bet with the aforementioned bookmaker until 03.

Stephen Bunting – Statistics & current form

Stephen Bunting is 38 years old and yet he has been playing darts on the big stage for over 20 years. “The Bullet” was not only one of the best youth players on the scene when he started out, but also crowned himself BDO World Champion in 2014. In general, Bunting had an outstanding career with the rival darts association before leaving the comfort zone to gain a foothold in the more prestigious, stronger and financially more lucrative PDC

Bunting played an outstanding average at the start

Bunting celebrated his greatest success in 2021 when he reached the World Championship semi-finals. The man from Liverpool has also reached the final round of the World Grand Prix and the UK Open. This year, the Englishman even reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts and played the ninth-best average on the tour with 96.06 points. This short biography with the current status quo alone impressively underlines the fact that the outsider from Cologne will need an absolute cream day for the prediction on the German to come true in Hempel’s match against Bunting on Thursday.

This is also supported by the fact that the world number 18 put in a great performance in his first match of the tournament. In his 3-0 win over Ryan Joyce, Bunting averaged 107 (!) points, threw five 180s, conceded a total of just three legs and could also boast a double rate of almost 50%. Due to his scoring dominance, a 92 was enough as the highest checkout. However, his upcoming opponent Hempel has already played some “high finishes” in his two matches and will also be clearly inferior in terms of average. It is therefore quite possible that the German might even end up with the highest checkout of the match

Florian Hempel – Stephen Bunting Direct comparison / H2H result

To date, the two Tour Card holders have faced each other twice. In 2021, Hempel narrowly prevailed 6-5 in a best-of-11 legs format on the European Tour. This season, Bunting got his revenge with a 6-4 leg win in a Players Championship tournament. On Thursday, however, it will be a best-of-7-sets format, meaning he will need to win at least twelve legs to leave the stage as the winner

Florian Hempel – Stephen Bunting tip

For the third time Florian Hempel is represented at a PDC World Darts Championship. For the second time, the 33-year-old has made it into the third round. It currently seems rather unlikely that the Cologne native, who will enter the Ally Pally with the blockbuster “Viva Colonia”, will even reach the round of 16. According to the betting odds, Hempel is regarded as the clear underdog against Bunting.

We completely agree with this assessment, as his English opponent had a strong year in 2023, scored an average of six points more per shot than his opponent and also had a strong opening match. “The Bullet” threw a 107 average in his 3-0 win over Jocye. If Bunting can maintain this level, Hempel will only be the runner-up in many legs. But that in turn could mean that the 33-year-old will need “high finishes” to have any chance at all

Because the odds on a two-way success with/without handicap offer little value, we tend to bet on the German playing the highest checkout of the match in the third round game Hempel vs. The odds of 2.50 are too high, especially as this bet could definitely work out regardless of the result/game