THE PDC's statistical analyst Christopher Kempf previews the action ahead of Day Two at the William Hill World Darts Championship.
Labanauskas v Edgar
Although Darius Labanauskas is one of the top players on the Nordic and Baltic Tour, he has yet to meet with substantial success in the PDC beyond his upset of Raymond van Barneveld at last year's World Championship.
An advantage of three points over last-minute qualifier Matthew Edgar (91.19 for the Lithuanian vs 88.20 for the Englishman) is flipped on its head when considering all-important last-leg deciders, in which Edgar has increased his average by nearly three points (Labanauskas' decreases by five) and has won 70% of final legs in 2019.
Yamada v Meikle
Yuki Yamada claimed his first title on the Asian Tour this year (defeating Paul Lim in the final) but will need to muster an even more exceptional performance to beat Ryan Meikle, against whom he is a massive statistical underdog.
Meikle completes 11 and 12 dart legs at a rate more than four times greater than that of Yamada, whose 2019 average ranks 90th out of 96 competitors. Expect a fair few 180s from the Englishman, who outranks more than half the field in three-treble visits.
Woodhouse v Lim
The legendary Paul Lim continues a 40-year career in darts tonight with a contest for the honour of playing Michael Smith in the second round.
Continuing with the theme of Friday's matches, both Lim and opponent Luke Woodhouse have excellent records in 2019 with respect to completing 101+ finishes (both men complete nearly 12% - no player in the field does better than 14.7%) - but Woodhouse has a substantial advantage in his overall doubles percentage.
Wattimena v Humphries
Tipped by many as a potentially vulnerable seed in the second round, Jermaine Wattimena faces a man who is no stranger to defeating seeded players at the World Championship.
Humphries' performance on Friday was a masterpiece of timely finishing, which allowed him to overcome Devon Petersen's higher average.
The mercurial Wattimena is himself on an upward trajectory - his record with three darts at a double is bested by only seven other players - but the draw has been unkind to him and he will likely face a stiffer challenge than most seeds.
McGeeney v Campbell
Mark McGeeney, while enjoying a modestly successful debut year in the PDC and recording a 2019 average of nearly 92, has struggled to emerge from out the shadow of his past BDO nemesis Glen Durrant.
Either he or Canadian Matt Campbell will find themselves a match away from defending World Champion Michael van Gerwen with a win.
Campbell is the more likely man to check out with three darts at double (73% vs 70.5% for McGeeney), but in every other respect the six-point difference in averages will make life difficult for him in his World Championship debut.
Hughes v Lerchbacher
Starting his PDC career off with a European Tour title, Jamie Hughes has collected enough prize money in 2019 to ensure his continued presence in darts for the foreseeable future.
His opponent, on the other hand, is playing to keep his tour card. The statistical advantage is decidedly with Hughes, a player with the ninth highest rate of completing legs in four visits.
Lerchbacher has had some success in completing high finishes, but 2019 has been a difficult year for him and there's little on his record to indicate that a substantial upset is likely.
Van Barneveld v Young
Raymond van Barneveld's farewell tour, his quest for one final World Championship title, is unlikely to end at the hands of the American qualifier Darin Young.
Young's 2019 average in American events is fully nine points lower than Barney's on the Pro Tour, though the American veteran remains proficient as ever at his 101+ finishes.
In spite of his struggles this year, Barney has demonstrated enough scoring power to make any threat from Young seem relatively trivial.
Cross v Huybrechts
The pressure is on for Rob Cross to defend the 385,000 pounds he would stand to lose from his Order of Merit if he were to fall to Kim Huybrechts, who as ever remains a scoring threat (leaving a score of 195, on average, after nine darts), and demonstrated more finishing prowess against Geert Nentjes than one would have expected from his 2019 performances.
But Cross remains one of the tournament favourites, as attested by his maintaining the 3rd highest three-dart average in the world. His ability to excel at the Alexandra Palace remains legendary, and the difficulty of the former champion out will be massive.