Peter Wright admits he “created a monster” by allowing Luke Humphries to claim his first major in October, but does not think the hottest player on tour will win the World Championship.
Wright missed three match darts to beat Humphries in the quarter-finals in Leicester, allowing the 28-year-old to take victory and go on to win the tournament.
He quickly followed that up by lifting the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship last month, which means he will head to Alexandra Palace for the season-ending spectacular as favourite.
‘Snakebite’, who ended a near two-year major trophy drought by winning the European Championship recently, thinks it could be too soon for Humphries this year.
“He is favourite because he has won three out of the last four majors, and I won the other one,” two-time world champion Wright told the PA news agency.
“I was the only other person to get close to him. It’s my fault, I created a monster because I had three darts at the Grand Prix to beat him and that was his first major. If I’d done that things would have been different.
“He’s a great darts player but I think it is a little bit too soon. Yes, I think he will win the worlds but just not yet.”
Wright’s second world title won at the start of 2022 must seem like a long time ago for the 53-year-old, who has struggled for consistent form.
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He still remains confident he can become just the third person to win more than two world crowns and says his winning know-how gives him an advantage.
“I believe I can win it, I am not playing until December 20 so it gives me three weeks tinkering with my darts to make them 95 or 98 per cent perfect, that’ll do.
“There is potential to become a third-time world champion. That is in my sights and I am looking forward to it.
“It puts a lot of pressure off my shoulders to know I have won it twice. I think I have got a lot of advantage over a lot of the field.
“I am nowhere near my best at the moment, but I know what it takes to win. I decided to go and put the practice in and I went and won the European. I have put my focus on the Worlds, to be prepared for winning it one more time.”
Tournament sponsor Paddy Power have teamed up with Prostate UK and will donate £1,000 for every 180 thrown.
Wright believes there will be more maximums than ever before as a result and urged men to answer three simple questions to check their risk for a disease which affects one in eight men.
“It’s a great cause, the sponsor putting up £1,000 for every 180 hit, there was 901 last year and I think there will be more this year,” Wright added.
“I think players won’t switch down to 19, they will stay up there and try and get another 180 for Prostate Cancer UK. It affects one in eight men. I’m 53 so I need to be getting checked.”
:: It takes 30 seconds to answer three questions to check your prostate cancer risk. Do it now by clicking on the following link: prostatecanceruk.org/180-risk.
Maresca feels regret at Joao Felix's lack of Premier League game time
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted that he is struggling to keep all of his talent happy ahead of their game against Leicester on Saturday.
The Blues' first-team squad page listed 43 players at the start of the season, with 10 players having joined over the summer.
As a result, this has meant limited game time for some of the club's more senior players, such as Joao Felix who is yet to start a Premier League game since joining permanently in summer.
Despite this issue, Chelsea have started the season well and currently sit third after 11 matches, but Maresca feels a tinge of regret at not being able to involve everyone.
"I feel a shame for Joao and I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League but we need defensive balance and we cannot play with Joao, Cole [Palmer], Christo [Nkunku]," he said.
"I’d like to put all of them on the pitch but then you need to defend, and you need the right balance.
"I don’t have any doubts that if Joao keeps working well, he will find his moment in the Premier League."
Leicester manager Steve Cooper, meanwhile, will have to pick his team up following a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United prior to the international break. He will have to do so without key player Ricardo Pereira, who is out for four months with a hamstring injury.
"It's a real blow for everybody, and especially him. We'll all be with him now in his recovery," he told BBC Sport.
Having kept just one clean sheet in 11 league games, Cooper is also aware of where his side need to improve.
"We're not going to hide away from the chances and goals we're conceding, and we'll keep showing intent to improve that," he said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester – Jamie Vardy
Vardy is 37 years old, but tops the scoring charts at Leicester having netted four goals in the Premier League.
He has opened the scoring on one occasion this season and has a conversion rate of 33.33% having scored his goals from 12 shots on goal.
Chelsea – Cole Palmer
Palmer ranks fifth in the Premier League top scorers so far this season, having scored seven goals. He also ranks equal-second for goal involvements, having added five assists alongside his goals.
The Chelsea forward has had at least three shots in five of his last six league games and ranks fourth for total shots in the Premier League with 36.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN
Chelsea earned a 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in their last match before the international break, which left them third in the table and four points behind second-placed Manchester City
That draw means that Chelsea have lost just one of their last 10 league games (W5 D4), which came against league leaders Liverpool in October.
Chelsea have lost just one of their last seven away games against Leicester (W4 D2), winning four of their last five meetings overall.
Leicester are winless in their last 13 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the top four of the table (D3 L10). They come into this with three defeats in their last four matches in all competitions (D1).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leicester – 19%
Draw – 21.6%
Chelsea – 59.5%
Premier League MD11: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
The final international break of 2024 is here, and we can safely say the Premier League is starting to take shape.
Opta's supercomputer now has Liverpool, who are five points clear at the top following their win over Aston Villa on Saturday, as the favourites to go on and win the title.
Manchester City lost a fourth straight game in all competitions as they went down 2-1 at Brighton, while Chelsea and Arsenal are third and fourth respectively after sharing the points.
When assessing the underlying metrics, it looks like Sunday's draw at Stamford Bridge was a fair result, but that was not the case across the board this weekend.
Here, we pick out the lucky winners and unlucky losers from matchday 11.
Lucky winners: Manchester United
Manchester United are now under new management, with Ruben Amorim officially starting as head coach on Monday. But interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy ensured he went out with a high as the Red Devils beat Leicester City 3-0 on Sunday.
However, it is fair to say United were rather fortunate to net three times at Old Trafford, with the data suggesting they did not even create chances worthy of one goal, never mind three.
United's expected goals (xG) was 0.69, the third-lowest total in the league this weekend and behind Leicester's 0.77.
Bruno Fernandes scored one and set up another on his 250th appearance for the club, either side of Victor Kristiansen's own goal, but from 13 shots, United, who had only 17 touches in Leicester's box, really did not create much in the way of quality opportunities.
Indeed, their attacking quality instead told, with Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho finishing well. At the other end, Leicester failed to make their moments count, despite hitting the target with five of their six shots.
Spare a thought for Erik ten Hag, given when he was in charge, United's attack was underperforming. Now Amorim just needs to pick up where Van Nistelrooy left off...
Unlucky losers: Manchester City
Man City are suddenly the crisis club, having lost four straight games for the first time since August 2006. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has lost four games in a row in all competitions for the very first time in his managerial career.
Erling Haaland also lost a Premier League match in which he scored a goal for the very first time, having put City ahead before Joao Pedro and Matt O'Riley clinched the points for Brighton.
Brighton finished with 2.29 xG, so they did deserve to score at least twice. However, City can still consider themselves unfortunate, given their 2.22 xG was the third-highest of any team across the weekend.
Their post-shot expected goals on target (xGoT) also rose to 2.98, showing that Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was on fine form.
City also created five big chances, missing four of them, and hit the woodwork once. That being said, they conceded eight big chances, with Brighton letting them off for six of those, so it was not a good day at the office for Guardiola.
Unlucky losers: Bournemouth
If Man City were unfortunate, then the team to have created the highest xG (2.61) this past weekend – Bournemouth – can consider themselves hard done by.
Andoni Iraola claimed his team were worthy of the three points against Brentford, despite the Cherries losing 3-2, and the underlying metrics suggest the Spaniard was fair in his assessment.
Only Tottenham (35 in their loss against Ipswich Town) had more touches in the opponent's box than Bournemouth's 34 at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Iraola's side were made to pay for some dismal finishing.
Their xGoT dropped to 1.68, while Brentford's rose from 1.48 xG to 1.84 xGoT – essentially, the level of finishing from Brentford's players increased the likelihood they would score, while Bournemouth's finishing was below what would have been anticipated based on the quality of chances they had. That is further backed up by the fact the Cherries only got three of their 15 attempts on target.
Van Nistelrooy praises Man Utd fight after signing off with win
Ruud van Nistelrooy praised Manchester United's fight to earn a 3-0 win against Leicester City in his final game as interim manager.
The Dutchman took over after Erik ten Hag's dismissal last month and went unbeaten in his short stint, winning three of his games and drawing the other, with Ruben Amorim set to take over from Monday.
Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho got the goals on either side of Victor Kristiansen turning into the back of his own net to earn United just their fourth Premier League win of the campaign.
United are now unbeaten in 19 straight Premier League games against promoted sides, taking 53 of a possible 57 points across these matches (W17 D2). Their last such defeat came away to Claudio Ranieri's Watford back in November 2021 (1-4).
It is not yet clear if Van Nistelrooy will remain at the club on Amorim's coaching staff, but the former United striker is proud of his short time in charge at Old Trafford.
"It was professional, you could see that players were fighting through the game," he told BBC Sport. "We scored two great goals and there were some good bits, but we didn't have real control of the game.
"I really enjoyed it [being interim manager], it's been a short but amazing period. We are in an uncertain position, but we tried to do our jobs and help the club, which is important.
"There are a lot of feelings there, the way the fans supported me and the team always in difficult moments. It was a special moment. To close down this block of games with good results and a good connection, I can't thank them enough.
"We will learn what the plan is now.
"This spell was a big responsibility; I took it very seriously. I wanted to help and get United into a better place. That was my goal. With three wins and a draw, it's a standard where you want to grow to as a club.
"The connection with the fans was there, I really felt it. This is what United is really about."
Going into their match against Leicester, United had scored just nine league goals, their lowest-ever tally after 10 games in Premier League history.
Fernandes scored four goals under Van Nistelrooy’s leadership, having failed to hit the back of the net in the league before that, bringing up his 100th goal involvement in the Premier League with his assist for Garnacho.
"You saw the class of the team in our goals, we also gave very little away," Van Nistelrooy added.
"We tried to stabilise after a difficult and emotional period. We wanted to get players performing at their best, we got the right feeling to them and got them to believe in themselves.
"It was an important three points. In the four games, Bruno scored some important goals, assisting too, so he is back producing. That's the Bruno that is helping the team the most.
"I spoke to Alejandro Garnacho before the game, he has played a lot of minutes, and I wanted him to make an impact off the bench, and I'm glad it worked out. We said: 'Let's make the most of these four games', get the maximum out of it and I think we did an OK job."
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