It's opening night of the Betfred World Matchplay and our guide includes the order of play, match-by-match predictions, Sky Bet odds and a suggested acca.
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- Player-by-player profiles of the 32-man field
Televised darts is back with a fan-less bang tonight as the World Matchplay gets under way at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Obviously the piped-in chanting can't possibly make up for the special atmosphere that is so synonymous with the tournament's spiritual home of the Winter Gardens, but let's just be thankful we can finally watch top-class darts on a stage again rather than the confines of players kitchens, cabins and bedrooms.
Michael van Gerwen begins his quest for a third World Matchplay title - and first since 2016 - while the 2018 champion Gary Anderson is also in action.
Throughout the tournament I'll be writing daily previews for every match compete with scoreline predictions and a daily acca, starting now...
World Matchplay: Saturday July 18
SUGGESTED ACCA
- Joyce, Ratajski & Gary Anderson (-4.5) at 6.72/1
- Click here to build your acca at Sky Bet
EVENING SESSION
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1800 GMT)
- First round: Best of 19 sets
- Full World Matchplay draw & schedule
Simon Whitlock (8/11) v Ryan Joyce (11/10)
- Head-to-head: 4-3
- 2020 Meetings: 1-2
- Career PDC titles: 16-1 (TV: 1-0)
- Titles this season: 0-1
- PDC Order of Merit: 16th - 42nd
- ProTour Order of Merit: 46th - 24th
There'll be no shortage of darts punters expecting Simon Whitlock to be the first seed to fall as he returns to Milton Keynes in rotten form while Ryan Joyce is very much a player full of confidence...even if he doesn't show it.
The Aussie, who reached the quarter-finals two years ago, headed to the Summer Series knowing that if he slipped out of the world's top 16, he'd miss out on the World Matchplay given how far down he was on the one-year ProTour Order of Merit.
As it turned out, Whitlock clung onto 16th spot despite only managing four wins across the five tournaments - albeit playing well in some close defeats - and he's got to somehow conjure up some of the old magic to go far this week.
The unflappable Joyce soared into the the qualification spots with his maiden PDC title at the Summer Series, keeping his cool from 7-3 down to beat Dave Chisnall 8-7 in a dramatic final. Anyone else would be overcome with emotion, but not this affable Geordie who seems to play any game as if it's just a chuckabout in a pub.
Relentless wasn't exactly mesmerising on the other days but he didn't really need to be and will be ready to spring a minor surprise on his World Matchplay debut.
Prediction: 7-10
Suggested bet: Ryan Joyce to win the match, score over 2.5 180s and checkout over 86.5 at 2/1
Krzysztof Ratajski (2/5) v Jermaine Wattimena (2/1)
- Head-to-head: 6-2
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- Career PDC titles: 8-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Titles this season: 1-0
- PDC Order of Merit: 13th - 23rd
- ProTour Order of Merit: 3rd - 18th
If you've read my player-by-player profiles or my outright betting tips, you'll know all the reasons why I fancy Krzysztof Ratajski as a potential World Matchplay champion.
Only MVG, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price have won more than his eight PDC ranking titles since the start of 2018 and when you think he only competed in 10 events in the first of those years as a non-tour card holder, that's pretty remarkable.
The Polish Eagle looked very sharp during the Summer Series and those who doubt his stage form in front of a huge crowd, don't have those concerns to worry about this time.
That's not to say Jermaine Wattimena isn't a dangerous opponent having climbed the rankings pretty sharply over the past couple of seasons but he struggled to maintain his momentum from the back end of 2019 into this year and didn't post a single 100+ average during Summer Series.
Ratajski, who hit the 7th most 100 checkouts last week, has also won their last six meetings so I do expect a relatively routine triumph.
Prediction: 10-6
Suggested bet: Ratajski's highest checkout to be over 116.5 at 1/1
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James Wade (1/3) v Keegan Brown (23/10)
- Head-to-head: 7-4
- 2020 Meetings: 1-0
- Career PDC titles: 37-0 (TV: 9-0)
- Titles this season: 1-0
- PDC Order of Merit: 9th - 30th
- ProTour Order of Merit: 8th - 28th
James Wade isn't known to be a big practice player so there were a few question marks over how quickly he'd get back to title-challenging speed after lockdown.
Well he answered those questions emphatically with his first title of the season on day four of Summer Series, beating nine-dart hero Rob Cross in the final, while only Peter Wright won more than his tally of 19 match victories.
His overall average of the week was 'just' 94.79 which ranked him down in 20th place and his best of 103.70 was bettered by 20 other players - but I guess all these stats sum up the Machine's career to a tee.
As usual, he could be vulnerable if his opponent can weigh in with a big average but Keegan Brown, who admirably spent most of lockdown working overtime as a key worker or the NHS, didn't do much to suggest he will during the Summer Series.
Wade has edged their last four meetings but they've all been close affairs, not least that titanic battle at the 2019 World Championship that Brown really could have won.
Prediction: 10-7
Suggested bet: Match to have over 15.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 114.5 and over 5.5 total 180s at 11/8
Michael van Gerwen (1/14) v Brendan Dolan (7/1)
- Head-to-head: 18-5
- 2020 Meetings: 0-1
- Career PDC titles: 131-7 (TV: 52-0)
- Titles this season: 3-0 (TV: 1-0)
- PDC Order of Merit: 1st - 32nd
- ProTour Order of Merit: 5th - 14th
Those who keep a close eye on floor events away from the TV cameras will be fully aware of Brendan Dolan's revival since last August, when he ended a five-year title drought before winning another two months later.
The History Maker carried this form into 2020 and reached another final shortly before lockdown, losing to Nathan Aspinall, but he was pretty sluggish to say the least at the Summer Series and would really need to catch MVG on an off day to stand a chance.
The world number won did have three of those when he wasn't winning the other two titles but we've got to bare in mind those surprise defeats to Joe Murnan, Devon Petersen and Maik Kuivenhoven were over a best of 11 legs. This race to 10 is a different proposition.
That said, the unheralded Jason Lowe came within a whisker of achieving the feat at the UK Open, which van Gerwen went on to win, so if he is complacent then it could be a little closer than most expect.
Prediction: 10-7
Suggested bet: Match to have over 14.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 126.5 and over 7.5 total 180s at 4/1
Gary Anderson (1/4) v Justin Pipe (3/1)
- Head-to-head: 11-6
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- Career PDC titles: 47-6 (TV: 15-0)
- Titles this season: 1-0
- PDC Order of Merit: 8th - 57th
- ProTour Order of Merit: 25th - 27th
Gary Anderson may well be one of the biggest crowd favourites around but he proved during the UK Open two years ago that he doesn't need the fans to roar him on to major glory.
Of course, the Flying Scotsman was pretty much operating somewhere near his peak during a glorious year in which he also won the World Matchplay in the most dramatic of circumstances and the Champions League of Darts - as well as coming agonisingly close to adding the Grand Slam of Darts to his collection - but he coped far better than anyone else in surreal circumstances.
Anderson may come across as a bit old school and set in his ways, but his adaptability is often underplayed at the expense of all his other obvious strengths. Despite being a self confessed technophobe who'd never played online darts due to his publicised WiFi problems, Anderson finally rocked up to his oche to take part in the PDC's Home Tour at the 11th hour and ended up reaching the final, finishing runner-up to Nathan Aspinall.
We probably all expected more than just a glimpse his brilliance during the Summer Series but I don't think we can read too much into that when he has a major on the horizon to prepare for.
This should be a relatively comfortable victory when you consider Justin Pipe is nursing an elbow injury that forced him to miss the last two Players Championship events while even at 100%, it would be hard to make a strong case for a shock result.
Prediction: 10-4
Suggested bet: Gary Anderson -4.5 Legs at 13/8
Related Darts Content
- Chris Hammer's Player-By-Player Guide
- Paul Nicholson's World Matchplay analysis
- World Matchplay betting preview & tips
- 2020 World Matchplay draw and schedule
- Carl Fletcher's vital statistics
- 2020 Premier League venues & dates
- 2020 PDC event calendar & results
- 2020 World Darts Championship results
- 2019 PDC event results
- Sky Bet's darts odds
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