Grand Slam of Darts 2025 Predictions: Van Veen to go back-to-back?

Our resident Darts expert, Sean Rafferty is here to deliver us his predictions and best bets for the Grand Slam of Darts, which kicks off on Saturday afternoon. He'll also be tipping daily from the second round onwards, so be sure to bookmark this page!

Sean is red hot right now having tipped back-to-back outright winners in his last two previews for Betfred. Check out his Grand Slam of Darts 2025 predictions below.

Tournament Winner

2 units Gian Van Veen to win @ 9/1

Gian won the European Championship for us last time out at 11/1, despite having an injury problem in the final session on the Sunday evening. The young Dutchman had a cut on the index finger of his throwing hand, which caused problems for him gripping the dart. Despite all that, he still found a way to win the title, even though he trailed Luke Humphries 4-1 in the final.

I’ve been raving about Van Veen for a while now and although many would probably disagree, I honestly don’t think he’s far off the levels of Luke Littler at all. Of course the number of majors Littler has already won at 18 years old suggests different, but I think now Gian has won his first one, many more will follow over the next couple years.

He isn’t getting any luckier with the draws he’s being given though - he’s in one of the toughest groups as he’s accompanied by fellow young stars in Josh Rock and Wessel Nijman. There’s no doubting that the quality in this group will be sky high at times, with many fast-paced matches given the tempo that all four players in this group play at. Rock is tipped to make next year’s Premier League line-up he’s impressed that much, however I do think he’s suffering a slight dip in form at the moment.

Nijman won another Pro Tour title last week and continues to impress, but I do still hold question marks over his form in the majors. He looked a bag of nerves when he lost out 2-1 to Rob Cross in a low-quality match at the World Grand Prix, which was followed by a first round exit to Van Gerwen at the European Championship, missing several match darts in the end.

It’s likely a three-way battle for the top two spots but Gian is proving the most consistent of the two and is the first of them to get that first major title under his belt which could help him to relax a bit on the oche. If he tops this group which I think he will, he’ll almost definitely face one of Scutt, Gurney or Sedlacek in the last 16, which could set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with Littler over a long format.

He’s the full package as a darts player and I don’t think we’ll be getting odds anywhere near double figures for much longer on GVV. Long format in legs already seems to be suiting him and if he can navigate his way through the group stages, he’ll be very tough to stop.

Gian Van Veen @ 11/1 - 1.75 units win & Gian Van Veen to win Quarter 3 @ 13/8

0.75 units Nathan Aspinall each-way (1/2 - 2 places) @ 22/1

Aspinall looks like he’s going through the gears to have a very big ending to the year. The last few weeks have seen him soar into the best form he’s shown since having therapy for an elbow/arm injury that plagued him for the best part of a year.

It took him a while to rediscover his best form, but he’s managed to rack up a trio of European Tour titles this year, having never won one previously. His most recent win was at the German Darts Championship last month, putting in some excellent performances on route to the title - he reeled off averages of 104, 107 and 111 one game after the other. He followed that up with a decent showing at the European Championship, sweeping aside Rob Cross 6-1, before coming up short against Danny Noppert but did put in a decent performance again.

Nathan has a mixed bag of results in Wolverhampton - his best run came in 2022 when he went all the way to the final, although he suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of a prime Michael Smith. He failed to qualify last year, after the injury problems I already highlighted. He’ll be delighted to be back this year and he has a fight on his hands to climb back up the rankings (currently sits 20th), so this looks a decent opportunity to do that. Not to mention it could do his chances of maintaining his spot in the Premier League next year the world of good if he goes deep into this.

I’m confident he’ll get himself through his group without too much stress, Luke Humphries is the clear threat but I reckon he’ll go through with him. It’s good to see Michael Smith back in a major, but ultimately we haven’t seen enough from him yet to suggest he’ll be good enough to topple Humphries or Aspinall. If Aspinall finishes top two in the group then it’s likely he’ll face Chris Dobey or Damon Heta in the last 16, a tie I’d make him favourite based on current form. At 20/1, I’m happy to jump on The Asp again.

0.75 units Danny Noppert each-way (1/2 - 2 places) @ 33/1

2 units Danny Noppert to win Group H @ 11/8

I’m really high on Noppert’s chances in every tournament at the moment, so long as he keeps producing the consistently good darts he has been recently. Noppie made the semi-finals of both the World Grand Prix and European Championship, coming out second best to Luke Humphries on both occasions, but not without putting up a stern challenge.

He’s never gone beyond the last 16 in six previous Slam appearances, a tad disappointing for a player of his calibre. However, I honestly believe Danny is playing some of the best darts of his career right now and it’s going to take a big performance to topple him this week.

He looks to be in one of the more inviting groups in terms of chances of qualification to the knockout stages - he’s up against Jonny Clayton who looks like he may just be suffering a slight dip in form at the moment, Lukas Wenig and Cameron Crabtree, who between them have very little big stage experience and aren’t really producing the type of numbers that should trouble Danny.

Whether Noppert tops the group or not, he’s likely to have a tricky last 16 tie as one of Van Gerwen, Anderson, Springer or Greaves await. The bottom line is Noppert is 100% the most consistent player in this bottom quarter of the draw, he’s more reliable than anyone to average high 90’s over any length of format at the moment. For that reason, I’d fancy his chances of getting the better of any of the names listed above. With a bit of good fortune with the draw, I can see Noppert having yet another deep run and being a threat to at least make the final.

0.5 units James Wade each-way (1/2 - 2 places) @ 33/1

This last selection was a tough pick between Wade and group rival Price. It’s well documented that Price is a fan of this tournament, winning it in 2018, 2019 and 2021. However, it’s perhaps worth noting that he hasn’t went beyond the quarter-finals since then. He’s spoke a few times recently about being focused on winning the World Championship, I just question how much he’s putting into trying to get this won for a fourth time.

Wade himself has an impressive record in Wolverhampton, despite never winning a title here. He’s done virtually everything else, having made three finals in 2010, 2016 and 2020, as well as making two semi-finals across his last three appearances in this. I’ve always felt that legs format is where Wade feels most at home, that’s reflected in his results this year - The Machine has made the finals of both the UK Open and World Matchplay, both tournaments largely having a longer legs format, similar to the Grand Slam.

If Wade can top the group, a tie against Martin Schindler or Luke Woodhouse in the last 16 would be the most likely outcome, then a potential quarter-final against Stephen Bunting or a rematch with Gerwyn Price. It’s a more than achievable task if Wadey can keep up his improved scoring he’s managed over the past year. We haven’t quite managed to get it right with James so far this year but this looks like a golden opportunity for him to potentially get his first major title of the year and his first ever Grand Slam, as he looks to have one of the best chances in a slightly more open top half of the draw.

3 units Chris Dobey to win Group B @ 8/11

Albeit it’s without doubt been a disappointing year thus far for Dobey, having failed to go beyond the last 16 stage in any of the last five major tournaments. There’s just been a few hints of a return to form though for Hollywood in recent weeks - he defeated Bunting at the European Championship with a 106 average, before losing to Van Gerwen in the last 16 but still put in a decent showing.

In the final couple Pro Tour events of the year, he won one and made the semis of the other. He’s averaged 97+ in 13 of his last 17 matches, which speaks for itself really.

The rest of the group doesn’t look to daunting for Chris - Damon Heta has been faltering for a while now, especially in the televised tournaments. Martin Lukeman has shown absolutely no form, averaging below 85 in nine matches since the end of August. Van der Velde is an exciting young player, but ultimately has very little big stage experience and I’d say this is more of a learning curve for him, as opposed to having any real expectations of winning the group.

Dobey is recording the best stats by a distance out of those in this group, I’m expecting him to come out on top with maximum points.

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