Jonny Clayton vs Ryan Searle Prediction & Betting Tips - PDC European Championship 2025

Prediction published on 21/10/2025, 13:18  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 21/10/2025 at 13:20 in Darts Predictions

The first round of the European Darts Championship 2025 tosses up an intriguing first-round clash, with Jonny Clayton set to take on Ryan Searle on Thursday night. The winner of this match between the Ferret and Heavy Metal will meet either Gian van Veen or Damon Heta in round two. Let’s get into the match prediction.  

Having not featured in the Premier League this year, Jonny Clayton has played a fair bit on the European Tour, which sees him enter the competition as the number seven seed, 10 places up from last year. 

The Ferret has notched up one European Tour title this year - the Dutch Darts Championship - and reached the semi-final of the World Grand Prix at the start of the month before losing to Luke Littler. 

Clayton was ousted in the third round of the German Darts Championship last week by Gian van Veen 6-1, leaving him with a record of six wins and four losses in his last 10 matches. 

Meanwhile, Ryan Searle will kick off the 2025 European Darts Championship as the 26th seed, 18 places below where he started last year when he managed to get to the second round. 

Heavy Metal has not won a major title this year, but he did produce a solid effort to reach the semi-final of the Players Championship 30 earlier this month before bowing out to Wessel Nijman. 

Since then, though, Searle has lost back-to-back games at the World Grand Prix and in Germany. He has also lost three of his last four matches against his upcoming opponent.