Michael Smith and Rob Cross are both in action on Sunday

World Matchplay darts: Sunday's predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sun July 19, 2020 · 5y ago

Our guide for day two of the World Matchplay includes the order of play, match-by-match predictions, Sky Bet odds and a suggested acca.

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Outright World Matchplay betting tips
Player-by-player profiles of the 32-man field

Unlike previous years, there is no afternoon session on the tournament's first Sunday so we go straight to another evening of five first-round matches.

Rob Cross begins the defence of his title against Gabriel Clemens while last year's runner up Michael Smith is also in action along with world champion Peter Wright.

After three best bet winners out of five yesterday - as well as 40/1 outright tip Krzysztof Ratajski looking so sharp - here's my match-by-match previews, predictions and an acca for Sunday...

World Matchplay: Sunday July 19

SUGGESTED ACCA

Hughes, Durrant (-3.5) & De Sousa (+2.5) at 9.74/1
Click here to build your acca at Sky Bet
Sky Bet Price Boost: Cross, Wright & Smith all to win their matches at 3/1 (WAS 5/2)

EVENING SESSION

TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1800 GMT)
First round: Best of 19 sets
Full World Matchplay draw & schedule

Mensur Suljovic (8/13) v Jamie Hughes (5/4)

Not an easy one to call on current form but Jamie Hughes certainly has it in him to spring a very minor surprise against 12th seed Mensur Suljovic.

Neither player exactly sparkled during the Summer Series, and while Suljovic won more matches than Hughes across the five tournaments (12 v 8) thanks largely to a semi-final run which was ended by nine-dart hero Rob Cross, the talented Tipton ace did boast a slightly higher overall average of 96.04 compared to 94.96.

Obviously Suljovic has greater major pedigree than Hughes, who is still in the early stages of his PDC career having earned his maiden Tour Card at the start of 2019, but he could so easily be standing here as a UK Open semi-finalist were it not for an agonisingly deciding leg capitulation against Jonny Clayton back in March.

This environment will take the edge off the nerves should a similar situation occur in a hard-fought match that I expect to go long.

Prediction: 8-10

Suggested bet: Match to have over 15.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 115.5 and over 6.5 total 180s at 5/4

Glen Durrant (2/5) v Jeffrey de Zwaan (7/4)

Head-to-head: 2-1
2020 Meetings: 0-0
Career PDC titles: 2-2 (TV: 0-0)
Titles this season: 0-0
PDC Order of Merit: 15th - 21st
ProTour Order of Merit: 10th - 23rd

If Jeffrey de Zwaan was coming back to Milton Keynes in top form and fully fit, then Glen Durrant would unquestionably be in for a stern test.

However, the young Dutchman has struggled with shoulder problems of late and that showed during his poor Summer Series campaign in which many of his stats - including averages, 100+ checkouts and legs won/lost - rank among the worst of everyone in the World Matchplay field (click here for Carl Fletcher's full stats analysis).

He won just four matches in five days, averaged 90.33 overall and his best mark was a mediocre 95.45, while Durrant was consistently in the top 10 on several of the key barometers despite not being at his most clinical.

The popular Teessider, who memorably beat MVG en route to the semi-finals of his World Matchplay debut 12 months ago before reaching the last four of two other majors, couldn't really have asked for a much better draw in the circumstances and it should be a fairly straightforward victory.

Prediction: 10-5

Suggested bet: Glen Durrant (-3.5 Legs) to win at 6/4

Scroll down for more

Click on the image for profiles and verdicts for all 32 players competing at the World Matchplay

Rob Cross (8/15) v Gabriel Clemens (6/4)

Head-to-head: 0-2
2020 Meetings: 0-0
Career PDC titles: 12-0 (TV: 4-0)
Titles this season: 1-0
PDC Order of Merit: 4th - 40th
ProTour Order of Merit: 13th - 20th

Rob Cross became just the ninth different winner of this prestigious event 12 months ago to complete the second leg of the sport's Triple Crown in just his third season on the PDC Tour.

Not bad for a player who is still widely overlooked in the discussion about who represents the biggest threat to Michael van Gerwen, and also one who is dismissed as a 25/1 outsider to retain his title.

Only three (Phil Taylor, Rod Harrington and MVG) of the other eight have managed to do that so it's clearly not easy, but he'll nevertheless feel insulted by those odds.

Voltage blew hot and cold during the Summer Series, hitting a nine-darter en route to reaching one of the five finals, while only picking up four other match wins across the other days.

The draw could certainly have been a lot kinder, with Gabriel Clemens almost unanimously considered German's 'real' number one after impressively rising up through the ranks since the start of 2018, although he didn't really get going during the Summer Series, except for a good run to a semi-final on the opening day.

It has all the makings of a tight encounter, and with the 'neutral' gentle crowd noise levelling the playing field, Clemens could relax more into his best game more than usual on his tournament debut.

Prediction: 8-10

Suggested bet: Over 17.5 Legs at 7/4

Peter Wright (4/11) v Jose De Sousa (11/5)

Head-to-head: 1-2
2020 Meetings: 1-0
Career PDC titles: 31-2 (TV: 7-0)
Titles this season: 3-0 (TV: 1-0)
PDC Order of Merit: 2nd - 51st
ProTour Order of Merit: 2nd - 16th

If all the seeded players had been asked who they wanted to avoid most in the first-round draw, they'd probably have said Jose De Sousa.

If all the unseeded players had been asked the same question, many of them would have said Peter Wright.

However, according to our columnist Paul Nicholson, who conducted the draw after his commentary duties at the Summer Series, Snakebite told him he was genuinely pleased with the draw and insisted it would make him even more focused in his preparations this week.

This isn't an act - just remember how visibly desperate he was to play Michael van Gerwen in the World Championship final.

If Wright does fall victim to a shock that is far from out of the question, then it won't be down to complacency. If De Sousa can produce the crazy stats and averages we've seen from him regularly on the floor, then the world champion will need to pull out all the stops to clear the first hurdle.

The Portuguese thrower, who won two PDC titles in his debut season last year, recorded the highest overall Summer Series average of 100.50 and recorded ton+ match averages on 11 occasions - which only Order of Merit winner Snakebite could match.

The duo were also the most prolific on 100+ checkouts, with Wright topping the charts with 20 ahead of De Sousa's 18 while they also formidable on their 180 hitting compared with the rest. The Scotsman's 180 per leg ratio was 0.40 and De Sousa's was 0.38.

I expect nothing less than a special encounter and I really wouldn't be surprised for De Sousa to show the televised audience what he's made of with the biggest result of his career.

Prediction: 8-10

Suggested bet: Match to have over 16.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 126.5 and over 9.5 total 180s at 7/2

Michael Smith (8/11) v Jonny Clayton (11/10)

Head-to-head: 6-1
2020 Meetings: 1-0
Career PDC titles: 10-3 (TV: 1-0)
Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
PDC Order of Merit: 5th - 20th
ProTour Order of Merit: 15th - 21st

If you've read my player-by-player profiles or my outright tournament preview then you'll know Michael Smith is in my staking plan to go the distance despite a lukewarm Summer Series.

I go into more detail in both about why I think those performances have caveats attached, and feel it would be unwise to expect that trend to continue in a setting which really could play to his immense strengths and talents.

After all, the major televised stage is where we see his very best until it gets to the very crunch in finals, but perhaps if he gets into that situation again, the lack of a real crowd may just ease the tension fractionally to make the difference.

The new-look Smith, who lost over two stone during lockdown to improve his family life and also enhance his brand when he's in the limelight, has got one of the toughest unseeded plays in UK Open semi-finalist Jonny Clayton and the Welshman will have his fair share of backers.

He won just £500 less than the world number five during the Summer Series and recorded one fewer win but average-wise his overall mark of 98.57 was superior by about five points, so you can see why some will fancy a surprise.

I don't, however, and it may not even be that close if Smith gets going.

Prediction: 10-6

Suggested bet: Smith to win and hit most 180s at 6/4

Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price head the betting for the World Matchplay

Click on the image to read the full outright betting preview

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