Sunday Night PDC Masters Darts Tips by James Punt
Sunday Night PDC Masters Preview
It was another thrilling afternoon of tungsten theatre in Milton Keynes on Sunday. All of the quarter finals were exciting affairs and James Punt was at it again. He tipped winners at 2.15, 2.63, 2.05 and 2.70. We were only a leg away from landing correct score bets in the Cullen game too. Let’s hope for even more winning wagers in the semi-finals. Check out James’ Sunday night PDC Masters Tips and preview below.
Dave Chisnall vs. Jonny Clayton
The H2H record here is a bit surprising. Chisnall is 6-1 up. However, the last time they played was in September 2020. That was shortly before Clayton won the World Cup of Darts and his career took off like a rocket. It is almost like there are two Claytons, the pre-world cup Clayton, and the post-world cup Clayton. The latter is now one of the best players in the world. Chisnall got all his wins against the old, run of the mill Clayton.
Clayton was top class when beating Price 10-8 earlier today. A 104 average with 66% on the doubles. He was 0-3 but had nine legs of 15 darts or fewer to edge out Price. It was a game of the highest quality and there was even room for some improvement as he was straying into the 1 segment a bit too often.
Chizzy Finishing Key
Dave Chisnall beat Michael Smith, also 10-8, averaging 97.4. It was also a good performance, but the difference was finishing. Chisnall was taking out huge combination out shots, while Smith was doing the usual and missing a load of doubles. His checkout rate was 23.5%, Chisnall’s was only 32% but that was because he struggled to hit the doubles when he had three darts at it. It was a mixed performance by Chisnall, some brilliance, but he wasn’t closing legs out well enough at times.
Chisnall is still seeking that elusive TV title and it is worth noting that he has played in 15 televised semi-finals and lost ten, including his last five in a row. Things get a bit tight the closer he gets to his goal. Clayton, on the other hand, has become very accomplished at winning tournaments (six titles in 2021), including this title last year and the Premier League, again in this arena last year. He has hundreds of thousands of reasons for liking Milton Keynes.
Clayton is the 1.40 favourite, Chisnall 3.00. Those look about right so any value will be in the side markets.
Pounding The Red Bit
Chizzy continued to smash in the maximums this afternoon, and he is hitting them at 0.5 per leg this weekend. Clayton is hitting them at a more sedate 0.27 but he is capable of better. The number of legs will be a factor in the number of maximums hit and the bookies have 18-19 legs (best of 21 legs) as the expected number. In the history of the Masters, when the semi-finals were best of 21 legs, 50% have been over 19 legs, 50% under 19. The lowest number of legs played has been 16.
Jonny Clayton has won his two matches 10-9 and 10-8 so far. Last year he needed a deciding leg in his first three matches and won the final 11-8. He likes a long match here. Dave Chisnall has played well so far, and his increased level of practice is paying off. He should be able to give Clayton a game, but he will be the more nervous player and I suspect Clayton will edge another close one.
Sunday night PDC Masters Tips: 1 point Over 19.5 legs @ 2.75 with Unibet
Sunday night PDC Masters Tips: 1 point Over 12.5 180s @ 2.32 with Unibet
Jose De Sousa vs. Joe Cullen
Joe Cullen put another dent in MVG’s confidence with a 10-7 win this afternoon. His performance was well short of how he played against Gary Anderson yesterday, but that was an exceptional display, and he was not likely to hit the same heights. However, he might need to find more if he is to beat De Sousa.
The Special One laboured to a 10-9 win over Simon Whitlock. He was good in spells and averaged 96 but it was his better doubling that won him the match with a 62.5% checkout rate compared to 39% for Whitlock. Half of De Sousa’s legs won were over 15 darts and he might end up giving Cullen a few chances against the throw this evening.
Cullen is searching for his first televised final, never mind a title. He has played in just two semi-finals and lost both. De Sousa has played in two televised semi-finals and won both.
Their H2H record is sparse, they have met once in a players championship qualifier, a semi-final, and De Sousa won 7-2 back in 2020.
Hard To Call
This is hard one to call. Cullen was good when beating Gurney 6-2 in the first round, magnificent yesterday when thrashing Anderson 10-1, but he was a bit ordinary against MVG. De Sousa has played well so far, not entirely convincing, but he has averaged 98.7 and 96.2, so that seems to be where his scoring is.
There will be more pressure on Cullen, he wants his first title, and he is getting close. Will he be able to relax and play his best, or will he be forcing the issue and getting a bit tight? De Sousa is a generally more relaxed character and maybe copes better with pressure than most.
Cullen is the 1.80 favourite with De Sousa a 2.10 shot. I can only imagine that is because of his performance against Anderson yesterday. He wasn’t great against MVG this afternoon and he needed a lot more darts to win legs than De Sousa did.
Sunday night PDC Masters Tips: 1 point Jose de Sousa to win @ 2.10 with SpreadEx, Ladbrokes
Between them, these two are hitting 0.57 maximums per leg, considerably less than the opening semi-final and they might struggle to meet the bookies expectations, especially if it turns out to not be a close match.
