2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Preview

Another very profitable session for James Punt yesterday. He landed three of his six match bets but even better, Edhouse (5.00) and Lukeman (6.00) both won their groups and landed two of our three group winner bets. Check out his 2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday match previews and tips below.

Gary Anderson vs. Noa-Lynn van Leuven

These two have met once before, a Players Championship match back in May. That ended 6-0 to Anderson and we should expect something similar tonight. He averages some 18 points more than Noa-Lynn and he has been very impressive so far. His tournament average is 109.

When they met in PC9, Anderson averaged just 90 and won 6-0. If he plays anywhere close to what he has done so far, surely we have a 5-0. Noa-Lynn lost 0-5 to MVG, and 3-5 to Ryan Joyce and her tournament average is just 83.5.

In all probability, Anderson will not be averaging over 100 tonight. He won’t need to, but hopefully he will be keen to get the job done quickly so he can have an early night.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 0.5 point Gary Anderson to win 5-0 @ 4.75 with Hills

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point Gary Anderson to win -3.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair

Jermaine Wattimena vs. Mensur Suljovic

Wattimena has already qualified and Suljovic is already eliminated. Wattimena has a healthy +7 leg difference and he is a strong favourite to win the group and get the £3.5k bonus. Suljovic will be hard pushed even to make it into third place and this is the deadest of dead rubbers, but I assume Wattimena will want to win, just too keep his good run going.

Wattimena is in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches, and he has dropped just three legs in his matches with Mike de Decker and Michael Smith, two top flight players. His tournament average is 100.75. Suljovic has now lost four matches in a row and only managed to average 79 in his 2-5 loss to De Decker. He was much better against Smith, averaging 99, but he lost that 2-5 as well.

Wattimena Fav

Wattimena is the 1.40 favourite, Suljovic 3.10. Before piling into Wattimena, we have to consider their H2H record, and that is 9-1 to Suljovic. Mensur has handed out some real thrashings to Wattimena. Five 6-2 wins, a 6-1 and just one 6-5 from their seven best of eleven leg matches.

We have a real clash of styles here. The fast, but not as fast as he was, Wattimena, and the slow, deliberate Suljovic. They have not met since 2021, and it is fair to say that Wattimena is a much better player now that he has slowed down a bit, but this will still be a big test of his mettle. Suljovic is likely to play at a glacial pace. Wattimena will just have to adapt, if he can.

I was tempted to go in on Wattimena on the handicap, but that H2H record is a real red light. No bet.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: No Bet

Luke Littler vs. Lourence Ilagan

Littler is 1.07 to win, and It is hard to argue even with those pathetic odds. He has averaged 109.5 across his first two matches, he is safely through to the play offs, and he will qualify as group winner. Ilagan is eliminated and while he outscored Keane Barry in the last round of matches, he still lost 3-5 to a 89 average. Littler has only lost one leg and I expect a 5-0 scoreline here.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 0.5 point Littler to win 5-0 @ 4.75 with SpreadEx

Gian van Veen vs. Wessel Nijman

An interesting matchup between the two bright young things of Dutch darts. Nijman was many people’s idea of a dark horse for this event, but he has lost his first two matches, despite averaging 105 and 106. That is impressive, but not as impressive as Gian van Veen.

GVV has averaged 110, and 115. By missing a couple of doubles at the end of his 5-1 win over Bunting, he just missed out on a tournament record. A tournament average of 112.55 is the best of anyone in the event. Can he keep it up? Probably not. He wasn’t in great form coming into this event, and he has lost five of his last ten matches.

Playing Well

Nijman has also lost five of his last ten matches but he is playing well. He is generally a heavier scorer than Van Veen. Their H2H record is 7-4 to GVV, but in 2024, it is 3-2 to Nijman. They are still meeting at Development Tour level, and in fact nine of their eleven matches have been at Junior level.

Van Veen is 1.91 to win, Nijman 1.95. This is very hard to call. We can’t expect Van Veen to keep popping in 110+ averages, but Nijman has managed to lose two matches, despite hitting big ton plus averages himself.

These two have played six first to five leg matches and those produced a total of 30 maximus. I was hoping for better odds than 1.67 for over 5.5 180s. No bet.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: No Bet

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Keane Barry

Both players have been beaten by Littler, and both have beaten Ilagan. Both have been pretty ordinary, much as expected.

Van den Bergh has lost six of his last ten matches and he has been struggling for form for a while now. He usually comes alive on the TV stage, but not this week, so far. Barry has won six of his last ten matches, but there is nothing special about his form, other than it is marginally better than Van Bergh’s.

Van den Bergh is the 1.67 favourite, Barry 2.40

This is a straight knockout match, the winner goes through, the loser goes home. Their H2H record is 2-1 to Van den Bergh and he won their only match in 2024, 6-4 back in March. These are two players I really don’t fancy and this makes limited appeal for betting purposes, but there is a bit of value in Barry’s odds. I find it hard to split them and as such, Barry should be nearer 2.00.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point Keane Barry to win @ 2.40 with Boylesports

Michael van Gerwen vs. Ryan Joyce

A straight knockout match. The winner will join Gary Anderson in the knockout phase of the tournament. MVG is not at his best, losing four of his last ten matches. Two defeats were to Anderson, one to Littler, and the other was an unexpected loss to Mickey Mansell. His B game is pretty good, however.

Ryan Joyce is a player to follow when he is playing well, but he hasn’t played well so far. He dropped three legs to Van Leuven. He has won seven of his last ten matches, but six of those saw six sub 91 averages, so he is not in great form.

Their H2H record is 7-1 to Van Gerwen, which is fairly comprehensive. MVG is the 1.40 favourite, Joyce 3.00. I would expect Van Gerwen to be fully up for this and he has made the knockout stage for the last thirteen years in a row.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point Michael van Gerwen to win -1.5 legs @ 1.73 generally available

Michael Smith vs. Mike De Decker

Smith has won six of his last ten matches and he continues to play with a great deal of inconsistency. He was comprehensively beaten 1-5 by Wattimena on Sunday night, and he only averaged 93.

De Decker has won seven of his last ten matches and he is playing with a good deal of consistency. He only averaged 88 when beating Suljovic, but Suljovic was very poor, averaging 78.

Now a Major champion, De Decker has stepped his game up a notch, while Smith is trying to rediscover the form that won him this tournament and the World Championship two years ago. If he loses this, he will have lost £142000 from his ranking prize money.

Their H2H record is 4-1 to Mike de Decker and he has won their last four in a row. 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point Mike de Decker to win @ 2.00 generally available

Stephen Bunting vs. Josh Rock

Bunting looked like he had been hit by a bus after getting beaten 1-5 by Van Veen. Bunting averaged 104 and was merely a spectator. He averaged 103 when edging out Wessel Nijman 5-4, but that was a match I felt that Nijman lost. He missed too many doubles and that let Bunting rescue legs he should have lost. Still, two ton plus averages tells us that there is nothing wrong with Bunting’s form.

Josh Rock averaged 106 when he got beaten by Van Veen but bounced back to beat Nijman 5-3. Rock has won eight of his last ten matches, Bunting seven, and both are in great form. Their H2H record is 3-0 to Bunting. They have met once in 2024, with Bunting winning 6-5 back in March.

Bunting is the 1.83 favourite, Rock 2.00. It looks to be a coin toss, but I have liked how Rock has gone about his business lately. He would be my favourite but not by much. Hopefully we get a great, close match to bring down the curtain on the group stage.

2024 Grand Slam Darts Tuesday Tip: 1 point over 7.5 legs @ 1.75 with Boylesports

-JamesPunt