World Matchplay darts: Day four predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

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The second round begins at the Winter Gardens on Tuesday night, with defending champion Gary Anderson back in action before a huge clash between Michael van Gerwen and Glen Durrant.

Here, I'll run through this evening's four games and throw in some predictions and best bets.

World Matchplay: Tuesday July 23

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1300 BST)
• Second Round: Best of 21 legs

Michael Smith (4/11) v Max Hopp (11/5)

Head-to-head: 2-2
2019 Meetings: 1-0
PDC Titles this season: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 11-3

I'd rank Michael Smith's performance in beating Jamie Hughes as one of the best in the opening round and such a tough test has helped him hit the ground running for the rest of the tournament.

There was no room for complacency against a dangerous player of Hughes' talents and he was really up against it when trailing 4-1 and 6-3 only to activate an exhilarating turbo mode that got him back on track before going on to complete the job with a 130 checkout.

The super talented Bully Boy is one of my outright tips despite this particularly difficult half of the draw and I really think he'll go from strength to strength as he chases his first big TV title.

He's perhaps slightly happier to play Max Hopp than Dave Chisnall - I know I certainly am - although we shouldn't underestimate the German star after the way he hung on in there and applied enough pressure to force Chizzy into dodgy doubling before edging a gripping clash 11-9.

Nevertheless I'm obviously sticking with the world championship runner-up, who I think will win and hit most 180s at 11/10.

Prediction: 11-7

James Wade (8/11) v Mensur Suljovic (11/10)

Head-to-head: 6-11
2019 Meetings: 1-3
PDC Titles this season: 4-0
Career PDC Titles: 34-5

I'll be honest, I thought both players would suffer upsets in the opening round.

James Wade very nearly did after coming through a sudden death leg but only after Jeffrey de Zwaan spurned five match darts during an enthralling encounter.

Mensur Suljovic, by great contrast, couldn't have enjoyed a much easier ride as the Machine Gun that is Jermaine Wattimena was mis-firing to say the least in a 10-1 drubbing.

It's not as simple to say Suljovic played 'better' because you must give credit to Wade for hanging in there in such trademark fashion and making the most of his reprieves against an opponent who played far better than his fellow Dutchman.

After surviving such a scare we can perhaps expect improvement from the European and World Series of Darts Finals champion, who has won four PDC titles this season, although he has a pretty ugly record against the wily Austrian.

He did end a three-game losing streak - which included two Premier League encounters - by beating him at the Austrian Darts Open noless but I fancy this will be a long, draining affair that goes to extra legs.

That's why I quite fancy a small bet on 8/1 on Wade winning by 'any other scoreline' in the correct score market and the same on Suljovic.

Prediction: 10-12

Gary Anderson (2/7) v Mervyn King (13/5)

Head-to-head: 21-7
2019 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles this season: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 44-8

Concerns over Gary Anderson's consistency didn't go away during a stuttering 10-6 victory over Danny Noppert, who was well below his best, and he could be in trouble if Mervyn King can play the way we know he can.

Even the Flying Scotsman said himself: "I'm still getting back into it. People know I've not played much this year and there were some dodgy darts there, but also some good darts."

The good darts included three 100+ checkouts including one from 160 although his cause was mainly helped by Noppert's dreadful start and his average of 88.

King, by contrast, was fantastic as he defied Nathan Aspinall's average of 102.96 - the highest of the first round - to run out a surprisingly clear 10-5 winner as he too made a 160 checkout, hit seven 180s, averaged 100 and pinned 10 of his 16 attempts at doubles.

The King did of course shock MVG at the UK Open earlier this year so he's certainly a player who can roll back the years more often than not.

I'll take the 13/5 for an upset win but anyone who wants a bigger price may fancy the 9/2 about him winning with over 3.5 180s and a checkout of more than 86.5.

Prediction: 8-11

Michael Van Gerwen (1/3) v Glen Durrant (23/10)

Head-to-head: 0-1
2019 Meetings: 0-1
PDC Titles this season: 8-2
Career PDC Titles: 124-2

The PDC World Champion takes on the BDO World Champion in what's quite obviously the tie of the second round.

I have a feeling this could also be one of those classics which gets talked about for years to come but that would need Michael van Gerwen to raise his game considerably from what we've seen in recent weeks.

The world champion's eight titles this season, including the televised Masters and Premier League, almost seem a bit like a distant memory given all the prolonged talk about his struggles - relatively speaking that is - and his average of 93 against Steve Beaton was the 12th match in a row in which he's averaged under 100.

The Bronzed Adonis will be gutted that he couldn't make him pay for 28 missed darts at doubles but one man who certainly would is Glen Durrant.

Obviously that's not to say Duzza needs MVG to be that off form to pull off a memorable win because the way he's been playing in his debut PDC season has proved he's more than a match for anyone.

The three-time Lakeside champion has won two titles already since earning his Tour Card and even beat van Gerwen in their first ever meeting en route to the second of those.

Just to have qualified for Blackpool so quickly was an achievement in itself but to perform so well under all the pressure of his Winter Gardens debut shows he's ready to mix it on the biggest of stages.

He averaged over 100 and hit around 50% of his doubles against Adrian Lewis and you'd think he'll have to do that again at the very least.

I fancy him to pull off the win, but I do expect the match to reach a tie-break situation.

Two options here are to back Durrant to win the match, score over 3.5 180s and have a checkout of over 88.5 at 3/1 or the 12/1 on him to win by "any other scoreline" in the correct score market. If you like the latter, then MVG is 8/1 in that market.

Prediction: 10-12

Tuesday's darts acca

• Smith, Suljovic, King & Durrant at 33/1
• Click here to build your acca

Schedule for Wednesday July 23

Wednesday July 24 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Daryl Gurney v Keegan Brown
• Stephen Bunting v Ian White
• Rob Cross v Krzysztof Ratajski
• Peter Wright v Simon Whitlock

Full World Championship draw and schedule

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