Bristow's bets

Eric Bristow picks four outsiders who could be worth backing at the World Darts Championship.

Who is most likely to 'do a Whitlock' this year?

Eric Bristow knows exactly what it takes to be a World Champion. The Crafty Cockney won the biggest prize in darts on five occasions and will once again be a part of the Sky Sports team at the 2011 World Darts Championship. So who better to tell us about the ones to watch at Alexandra Palace over the next few weeks? Unsurprisingly, world number one Phil Taylor is the red-hot favourite with the bookmakers - he's priced 4/6 with Sky Bet - and is intent on claiming a 16th world title. But Bristow, who sponsored The Power at the very start of his career, says this year's draw is tougher than usual for the reigning champion. "Taylor's shown a bit of vulnerability," Bristow told skysports.com "I wouldn't bet against him to win it, but I've been looking at the draw and he's got a hard draw all the way through this time. "Usually he gets a couple of easy games, but he's probably got Gary Mawson in the first round, who is a top player. He has a preliminary game earlier in the night, so he'll be ready for him. "If it works out, Taylor should have Mawson in the first round, then John Part in the second round, then Paul Nicholson or Co Stompe and then it'll be Steve Beaton and after that it could be Robert Thornton or Adrian Lewis or Simon Whitlock. Then one of the big boys in the final. "If it all goes according to plan there's going to be some lovely games this year." Last year, the unseeded Simon Whitlock made waves at Alexandra Palace as he battled all the way to the final - beating the likes of Terry Jenkins, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld - before losing to Taylor. But the Australian's run was no surprise to Bristow who had backed the Australian each way at 100/1 - and a few of his friends were quids in after following his tip. Bristow has been studying the players's form throughout the season and gave skysports.com his best each way bets for the 2011 edition. He said: "I've picked out two from the top half and two from the bottom half. The further they get through, the more confidence they'll get and I think you'll get some good prices on these..."

Steve Beaton (100/1 with Sky Bet)

He was beaten by Jacko Barry at the World Grand Prix in Ireland last year and I think that was a bit of a shock to his system. He's bounced back well from that and now I think he's playing better darts than he's every played. He beat Phil Taylor in Wolverhampton recently and looks comfortable. He's got Mark Hylton in the first round and then he plays the winner of Colin Lloyd v Andree Welge. If he gets through that he'll have a hard game against probably Mark Webster or Ronnie Baxter, but he wouldn't have to play Phil Taylor until the last eight. There's a lot of ifs and buts, but I think he's got a nice draw.

Robert Thornton (200/1 with Sky Bet)

He seems to be playing better and is practising properly now. He had a few problems with his hand, but he seems to be over that and looks like he's playing well. I watch players and he looks like he did a couple of years ago when he came over to the PDC. He played well in the World Cup, winning his singles match 3-0 in the semi-final and they had a chance to get through to the final, but his partner Gary Anderson let him down. Thornton plays Nigel Heydon in the opening round and he's a dangerous player, so he's got to come out of the traps. If he gets through that one he'll start to relax - and that's true of everyone in the first round. Thornton wouldn't meet Taylor until the semi at the earliest. I like him as an outsider.

Mark Walsh (66/1 with Sky Bet)

It's about time Mark does it on TV. He does it on the floor all the time, so we know what he's capable of. In the last Players Championship event of the year, he beat Taylor in one final and then the next day he lost to Taylor in another one. He must be playing well to get to those finals because it's tough to win those matches He's got Justin Pipe in the first game, who made his debut at the Grand Slam and lost all three games. He's another slow player so that will be a very slow game, no matter what happens. Mark's experience should pull him through and then he's got the winner of Alan Tabern v Richie Burnett. It could be a lot worse than that for him. By then you should be in the tournament and it doesn't matter who you play after that.

Gary Anderson (18/1 with Sky Bet)

He's got to come good eventually. He keeps making excuses about his shoulder injury and whatever else, but his excuses days are gone now. We've had 18 months of excuses and he's got to step up to the plate. We know how good he is, so either he's got it or he's a bottler. It'd be good for the crowd if he could do well and get into the Premier League because there's three nights in Scotland. He could put five or six legs together against anyone. He's a top four player in my eyes. He played lovely in Ireland; him and Taylor in the last eight was one of the best games I ever saw. He should have beaten him that day. People talk about his doubles, but that's a fallacy really because he was starting on double top every dart in Ireland. He misses the important doubles and that's down to pressure. He's either got the bottle now or he ain't. He plays the winner of Padgett v Hashimoto in round one and he should put them away. Then he plays the winner of Dennis Priestley and Bernd Roith. I'm not taking anything away from Priestley, but he's not the player he was years ago. He's still going to be tough to beat and he won't lay down, but Anderson's scoring should kill him. I think he's got a nice draw there.