Darts predictions, betting tips and preview for the Sky Sports-televised major at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool

Darts Betting Tips: World Matchplay

1 point Jonny Clayton wins World Matchplay with 20/1 (Overall)

1 point Dirk van Duijvenbode wins World Matchplay with 25/1 (Sky Bet, Betfred)

1 point James Wade wins first quarter 10/1 (bet365, Coral, Boylesports)

1 point Dave Chisnall wins the second quarter with 13/2 (BetVictor)

1 point Ross Smith wins quarter three with 10/1 (Sky Bet, BetVictor)

Sky Bet Odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

We’ve had three Ashes Tests and Wimbledon is almost over, but the summer of sport can’t really begin until the first dart of the World Matchplay is thrown at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Saturday night.

Only 11 different players have won the PDC’s second-longest running Major, thanks largely to Phil Taylor who has won a staggering 16 of his 17 finals over the years, and six of them are in this year’s 32-field: Michael van Gerwen, James Wade, Gary Anderson , Peter WrightDimitri Van den Bergh and Rob Cross.

But will a new champion be crowned at the 30th edition of this legendary event?

World Matchplay: Quarter One

• (1) Michael Smith vs. Steve Beaton
• (16) James Wade vs. Chris Dobey
• (8) Danny Noppert versus Martin Schindler
• (9) Nathan Aspinall vs. Krzysztof Ratajski

Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Smith 10/11, Aspinall 5/1, Noppert 13/2, Wade 15/2, Dobey 11/1, Ratajski 11/1, Schindler 14/1, Beaton 125/1

Michael Smith travels to Blackpool with the aim of becoming only the fourth player in history, after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright, to hold both World Matchplay and World Championship trophies simultaneously – and only the sixth player ever Has won both careers trophies, Rob Cross and Gary Anderson are the others.

That would be remarkable considering he was yet to win his first major trophy this time last year – but given current season form and stats, he may not be ‘the one’ to beat.

Still, Bully Boy has won a couple of titles since April and in his last appearance on the European Tour, he averaged 111 against Josh Rock en route to the Quarterfinals.

His overall season average of 95.89 may only be 11th best in the 32-player field, but we know what level he can reach when it really counts on the biggest stages, and more importantly, he has the faith and the confidence to finally get the job done here after finishing second in 2019.

This is still a very difficult quarter of the draw, however, with Danny Noppert or Nathan Aspinall possibly lurking in the back eight – but before that he may need to meet a resurgent James Wade in round two.

The Machine is gearing up for his 18th consecutive appearance at the Winter Gardens, which is a remarkable feat considering how tough it is to qualify for the event and despite not having been in danger in recent years , to come here over the distance, he has already reached the final six times. including his triumphant 2007 election campaign.

Wade’s season average of 95.23 is well over a point higher than this time last year and, more importantly, continues to climb after a sustained two-week period of highly impressive performances.

In his last 11 games, he averaged 101, 107, 105 and 109 while falling below 96 just once. For Wade, that’s a definite improvement and not what you’d normally expect of him. If he can keep this level for a while, then don’t be surprised if he is challenging at the end of the tournament.

World Matchplay: Second Quarter

• (4) Gerwyn Price vs. Stephen Bunting
• (13) Joe Cullen vs. Mike De Decker
• (5) Rob Cross vs. Daryl Gurney
• (12) Dave Chisnall vs. Gary Anderson

Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Price 11/10, Cross 9/2, Chisnall 11/2, Anderson 13/2, Cullen 14/1, De Decker 20/1, Gurney 25/1, Bunting 125/1

If you were told this quarter featured the player with the highest overall seasonal average, you wouldn’t be surprised. It’s Gerwyn Price with a phenomenal 99.18.

But what if you were told that the second highest place is also in this neighborhood… and without seeds!

After falling out of the world top 20 at the end of a hugely disappointing 2022 that had many fans wondering if Gary Anderson would soon consider retiring, the Flying Scotsman has turned back the years in sensational fashion – and Sporting Life might also have something to do with it.

Back in March, Paul Nicholson wrote a column about the “worst losers in darts” and named Anderson as one of them, albeit extremely constructively! Just a few days later he won his first PDC ranking event in three years and then said that he was excited about the above article.

Last month he almost doubled his season tally only to lose in the last game to Michael Smith, but that hasn’t deterred his resurgence, which he averaged over 100 for fun like in the good old days.

Losing his Premier League spot has also been a boon in his schedule and he seems to be enjoying the game a lot more now – so much so that he’s even returning to the European Tour for the first time in many years.

His season average of 98.02 puts him in the top five ahead of Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock. Now it’s just a question of whether he can maintain that standard during a long and tiring week in Blackpool on the longer format.

No seeded player wanted to draw Anderson, but neither will he be happy that he ended up drawing with Dave Chisnall.

Chizzy won two European Tour titles earlier this season and reached another final in May, while a few days ago he finished second to Humphries in a Players Championship tournament, losing 7-8.

He’s averaged over 100 six times in his last eight games, and he couldn’t be much hotter heading to his native Major.

I assume that whoever survives this audience competition ends up in the quarterfinals and can certainly compete with Price.

World Matchplay: quarter three

• (2) Peter Wright vs. Andrew Gilding
• (15) Ryan Searle vs. Raymond van Barneveld
• (7) Jonny Clayton vs. Gabriel Clemens
• (10) Dimitri Van den Bergh vs. Ross Smith

Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Wright 11/4, Clayton 3/1, Van den Bergh 9/2, Searle 8/1, Clemens 10/1, Smith 10/1, Gilding 12/1, Van Barneveld 12/1

There aren’t many darts fans and pundits predicting that the matchplay world champion will emerge this quarter.

The price of winning the Phil Taylor Trophy for Jonny Clayton and Peter Wright is around 20/1, but that could be seen as pretty disrespectful given their high world rankings and the fact that they’ve both won two titles each this season .

However, Snakebite’s season average of 93.87 is among the lowest in the 32-player peloton and while he helped Anderson reach the World Cup of Darts final, his individual performances have been a concern since early June, with numerous averages in the 80’s.

In contrast, Clayton has been remarkably consistent over the past few months, recently becoming the first player in the Dart Connect era to average over 90 in 50 straight games. Normally, once the Ferret reached half-century, he immediately dropped to 89 as he defeated Danny Noppert 6-0 on Tuesday, before returning to 99 in a loss to Jose de Sousa in his last game before Blackpool. So he will be more dangerous than the odds suggest.

However, I think Ross Smith could be an underdog to follow this quarter.

The European champions haven’t exactly caused a stir this season after his first breakthrough in late 2022, but he clinched a Players Championship title against Anderson in March and is second to Dirk van Duijvenbode with 180 goals in 2023.

He’s averaging in the top 12 in the field and if he can get his first win on the Winter Gardens stage in the opening round against the vulnerable Dimitri Van den Bergh and pump the Blackpool crowd into their best performances, then he might it will be Clayton’s greatest threat.

While I think the Welshman’s consistent quality is worth a slight edge in the outright market, a saver against Smith in the quarter with such a large bet also has its appeal.

World Matchplay: Quarter Four

• (3) Michael van Gerwen vs. Brendan Dolan
• (14) Damon Heta vs. Josh Rock
• (6) Luke Humphries vs. Jose de Sousa
• (11) Dirk van Duijvenbode against Kim Huybrechts

Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: MVG 6/5, Humphries 7/2, Rock 9/2, Van Duijvenbode 6/1, Heta 12/1, De Sousa 33/1, Huybrechts 33/1, Dolan 100/1

This really has to count as a death quarter considering five of those players have won 11 combined titles this season.

It’s the most successful quarter of the entire draw and the third favorite to make it – Josh Rock – didn’t win anything in 2023!

The confident Northern Irish sensation is undeterred by her Blackpool debut in only her second full season at the PDC circuit and despite not winning any titles this year she has reached three finals and has the fifth-highest average across the field.

Luke Humphries and Damon Heta both head into the tournament full of confidence after winning the last two Players Championship events, while Michael van Gerwen defied his recent grievances by storming to glory at the Poland Darts Masters with a 113 average.

There are still doubts as to whether MVG, who will undergo further surgery after the World Matchplay, can maintain a consistently high level over such a long and tiring week in Blackpool, but no one would be shocked to see him defend that title.

Humphries will be seen as MVG’s biggest threat in this difficult quarter, as he also recently won a European Tour title — not to mention the fact that he’s third behind Price and Anderson with his 97.84 season average — though it’s the player he defeated so dramatically win the event that’s on my radar.

Dirk van Duijvenbode was on the verge of his first stage win against Humphries in Trier before agonizingly missing four match darts in an 8-7 loss and one would think the pair will meet again in the second round in Blackpool.

The Dutchman, who has won three Players Championships this season, didn’t quite face the heartache in this week’s double-header in style, but he won six of his eight games and averaged over 100 in four of them.

His season average of 96.35 is firmly in the top 10 and he’ll be looking forward to another Winter Gardens season after reaching the quarterfinals 12 months ago.

It’s a brutal quarter, but whoever survives will be battle-hardened to take on anyone for the rest of what promises to be an exciting week.

World Matchplay: Past Finals

World Matchplay Most titles

• Phil Taylor—16
• Michael van Gerwen – 3
• Rod Harrington – 2
• Peter Wright—1
• Dimitri Van den Bergh – 1
• Rob Cross—1
• Gary Anderson – 1
• Larry Butler—1
• Peter Evison – 1
• Colin Lloyd—1
• James Wade – 1

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