The 2022 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts continues on Tuesday night so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, stats, best bets and a suggested acca.
The final games in groups E-H take place tonight, with the likes of Peter Wright, Nathan Aspinall and Damon Heta bidding to reach the knockout stages.
Here's our match-by-match guide to all of the action...
Darts betting tips: Grand Slam of Darts day four
1pt Fallon Sherrock (+1.5) to beat Alan Soutar at 17/10 (General)
1pt Damon Heta to beat Jonny Clayton and hit most 180s at 9/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt Nathan Aspinall to beat Peter Wright at 6/5 (General)
SL Acca: Heta, Aspinall and Humphries all to win at 7/1 with Sky Bet
Grand Slam of Darts: Tuesday November 15
- Evening Session (1900 GMT)
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports
- Format: Group stage, best of nine legs
- In the below stats (courtesy of @CarlyFletch) and his @DartsTracker), the averages and 180 per leg data is for all PDC events in 2022, while checkout percentage is for stage events only. In terms of Lisa Ashton, the data is only for Women’s Series events, while Fallon Sherrock also has her World Series appearances included. Leonard Gates is the CDC Tour and Perez is the Asian Championship. Checkout percentage data is not available for Ashton, Gates or Perez due to their lack of stage tournaments.
Jermaine Wattimena (3/10) v Leonard Gates (12/5) (F)
- Head to Head: (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 92.43 - 89.57
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.17 – Unavailable
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 34.72% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 12.9% - 4.81%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 16.19% - Unavailable
In a battle between two players thrashed 5-0 by Jonny Clayton, both Jermaine Wattimena and Leonard Gates can still qualify for the next stage.
Wattimena knows any win could be enough given that Damon Heta, who is level with him on points and legs difference, faces Clayton later tonight while Gates needs to beat the Machine Gun by a margin of 5-3 or better to stand a glimmer of hope.
The Dutchman cut a disconsolate figure during his clash with Clayton on Sunday, averaging 85 and missing all five darts at doubles while Gates will still be wondering how he blew a 4-1 lead against Heta and then miss three match darts in a deciding leg.
The American averaged 91 despite 14 missed darts at doubles so he definitely has the game to trouble Wattimena in what could be quite a tense affair. I'll tentatively go for a narrow, nervy win for the favourite.
Verdict: 5-3
Jonny Clayton (8/11) v Damon Heta (1/1) (F)
- Head to Head: (TV): 2-4 (0-1)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-3 (0-1)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 96.97 - 97.69
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.24 – 0.31
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 41.36% - 38.22%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 14.2% - 12.81%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 13.58% - 34.59%
Jonny Clayton hasn't dropped a leg yet after thrashing both Jermaine Wattimena and Leonard Gates by 5-0 scorelines but he didn't have to play spectacularly on either occasion.
Against Gates, who managed just one attempt at a double, he averaged 93 while his level dropped to 89 in his clash with the Machine Gun, who spurned all five of his darts at the outer ring.
Damon Heta was surprisingly lacklustre in a 5-2 defeat to Wattimena and it took until he was 4-1 down against Gates before he got his act together somewhat and scrambled to a 5-4 win that kept him in the tournament.
The Australian has been far better than this all season and will need to produce something closer to his usual levels if he's to get the win he'll probably need to advance.
Heta has a good record against Clayton and has won all three of their meetings in 2022, including a 10-8 triumph at the UK Open, while he's also a more prolific 180 hitter, averaging 0.31 per leg this season compared to the Ferret's 0.24.
Verdict: 3-5
Luke Woodhouse (4/6) v Nathan Rafferty (11/10) (G)
- Head to Head: (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 91.41 - 91.48
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.22 – 0.16
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 33.56% - 36.36%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.35% - 9.15%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 15.38% - 18.68%
Luke Woodhouse will take a giant step towards the knockout stages with victory over fellow debutant Nathan Rafferty - but he'll still require a favour from Michael van Gerwen later on.
He currently lies third behind Ross Smith on legs difference following his heavy 5-1 defeat to MVG on Sunday in which he only earned two darts at a double so he'll be looking to play closer to the level he produced against the European champion 24 hours earlier.
Woodhouse averaged 96 in beating Smith 5-4 while Rafferty has been averaging in the 80s during his pair of 5-2 defeats.
However, there's very little between these players based on seasonal statistics and Rafferty will have a lot less pressure on his shoulders than his opponent.
Verdict: 3-5
Michael van Gerwen (2/5) v Ross Smith (7/4) (G)
- Head to Head: (TV): 6-1 (1-1)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 98.14 - 94.03
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.27 – 0.33
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 38.1% - 38.84%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 13.56% - 11.04%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 28.15% - 26.73%
Michael van Gerwen has already sealed his spot in the last 16 after following up his commanding 5-2 win over Nathan Rafferty with a 5-1 thumping of Luke Woodhouse.
Although this means the three-time Grand Slam winner has a lot less on the line than Ross Smith, he'd sooner try and knock the European champion out and lay down another warning shot to the rest of the field.
That said, if Woodhouse has lost to Rafferty by a narrowish margin, then Smith will be safe no matter what happens in this showdown so if you were thinking motivation levels could cause a mini upset, it might be best to wait and see what happens in the earlier Group G contest.
Verdict: 5-3
Alan Soutar (1/4) v Fallon Sherrock (11/4) (E)
- Head to Head: (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 91.64 - 80.85
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.21 – 0.18
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 42.86% - 30.57%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.46% - 7.36%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 18.37% - 8.89%
Alan Soutar came agonisingly close to sealing his place in the knockout stages with a game to spare but having upset the odds to defeat Nathan Aspinall with a stunning 145 checkout in a deciding leg, he then missed six match darts against Peter Wright and the world champion made him pay.
He heads into this clash in third place behind Aspinall, whose leg difference is better, so he knows a big win over virtually-eliminated Fallon Sherrock will pile heaps of pressure on the Stockport thrower ahead of his clash with Wright later in the night.
Any win would obviously be enough if his fellow Scotsman can do him a favour and even a loss might be enough depending on the scorelines!
Soutar has been playing very well so far, averaging comfortably in the 90s, while Sherrock comes into this clash off the back of two 5-1 defeats, averaging in the mid to high 80s both times.
That said, her performance level would have looked much better had she not missed 12 of her 14 doubles across both games and she's obviously much more clinical than that. You have to expect those figures to improve if she continues to score as soundly as she did in those two games.
I'm going for a mini upset here but it's probably wiser to side with her on the handicap.
Verdict: 3-5
Peter Wright (8/13) v Nathan Aspinall (6/5) (E)
- Head to Head: (TV): 5-7 (2-4)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 1-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 97.54 - 94.99
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.31 – 0.26
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 39.43% - 42.04%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 14.7% - 13.84%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 23.6% - 22.69%
Many would have expected to see Peter Wright at the top of Group E after two games - but he enjoyed a fair slice of fortune to be here.
Snakebite averaged just 88 in his 5-1 victory over Fallon Sherrock, who missed six of her seven darts at doubles, while he only upped that to 89 against Alan Soutar during an undeserved 5-4 win that was only sealed after his opponent squandered six match darts across the final two legs.
If Soutar beats Sherrock 5-2 or better then Wright will head into his clash with Nathan Aspinall knowing that he can't afford to lose by the same scoreline if he's to stay in the competition. And the way he's playing right now, he might well struggle!
As for Aspinall, he will be battling hard no matter what because he'll need to win to guarantee his spot in the knockout stages.
The Stockport thrower, who has averaged around 93 in both matches, also took the Scotsman to a deciding leg only to be undone by a stunning 145 checkout while he too was in debt to Sherrock's double troubles in a 5-1 victory that lifted him into second on legs difference.
A 5-3 victory or better will see him leapdrog Wright and into the last 16 as group winner regardless of what Soutar does.
In reaching the World Grand Prix final recently, Aspinall proved he's ready to challenge for majors again and certainly has the ability to stun Wright, who has shown us his B and C games far too many times this season.
Verdict: 3-5
Ryan Searle (1/3) v Scott Williams (9/4) (H)
- Head to Head: (TV): 0-1 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-1 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 95.86 - 92.83
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.24 - 0.3
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 39.02% - 38.1%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 13.32% - 11.78%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 23.47% - 24.29%
Ryan Searle has never got out of the Grand Slam of Darts group stage in two previous attempts but has a great chance here if he can put Scott Williams to the sword.
Heavy Metal's 5-1 defeat to Luke Humphries on Sunday means he has a three leg deficit to make up on Josh Rock, who faces the Group H leader later, so he'll need some kind of a favour as well as a win.
Williams is obviously no mug having won a Pro Tour title without a Tour Card this season while he only narrowly lost 5-4 to Rock with a 94 average on Sunday.
He isn't actually out of this either if he can pick up a win by a few legs so neither player will be approaching this with the same kind of mindset as they would in any normal scenario. A hard one to judge but you'd assume if either of them fall 2-0 or 3-0 down, the stuffing will be knocked out of them.
Verdict: 3-5
Luke Humphries (8/11) v Josh Rock (1/1) (H)
- Head to Head: (TV): 1-1 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 1-1 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 97.51 - 97.74
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.33 – 0.3
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 40.75% - 39.81%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 12.61% - 12.38%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 31.51% - 26.4%
Earlier this year, everyone was talking about Luke Humphries and hardly anyone knew who Josh Rock was.
In recent weeks, Rock has made such an impact that he headed into his debut Grand Slam of Darts as the Group H favourite while the attention had moved away from Humphries.
Then in the space of a couple of days, Humphries is now favourite to beat Rock and make it three wins out of three!
In my pre-tournament preview, I did predict that the Newbury thrower, who has won five titles this season, would top the group ahead of Ryan Searle due to Rock's lack of experience on the big stage and I'm going to stick to that.
Humphries averaged 107 and threw four 180s as he blew Searle away 5-1 last night while Rock kept his hopes alive with a hard-fought 5-4 triumph over Scott Williams in which he averaged 97 and also weighed in with four maximums.
They both hit 180s for fun - as you can see from their 180 per leg stats above - and we could see plenty more in what promises to be an entertaining affair.
Verdict: 5-3
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