World Cup Darts Sunday Preview and Tips – JP
World Cup Darts Sunday Preview
James Punt fired in a seven leg winning acca yesterday, he is hoping for more profit today. Get his World Cup Darts Sunday tips below.
We are into the business end of the tournament now. The minnows have been knocked out and all eight seeds have made the quarter finals. If this trend continues, we will have an England vs. Wales final later this evening, but maybe not.
Northern Ireland vs. The Netherlands
The Netherlands is the form team for me. They have looked like the ‘best team’. Dirk and Danny have gelled nicely, and they are bouncing off each other, scoring very well and likely winners in my book. They dropped just two legs against the Republic of Ireland yesterday, Dirk averaging 110.6 against Lennon and Noppert 99 vs. O’Connor. Their pre-tournament form marked them out as a team to follow and they haven’t disappointed, losing just two legs from their opening two matches.
Northern Ireland looked likely to make the quarter finals, but this is where their hard work starts. They dropped three legs against Gibraltar and four when beating the New Zealand pair yesterday. Neither were convincing wins, but Brendan Dolan played well to come back from 0-2 to win 4-0 with legs of 14, 12 and 13 to finish off Warren Parry.
Tougher Test
Facing the Dutch will be much harder. Daryl Gurney is likely to play the opening match and he will hope not to have to face Danny Noppert, against whom he has lost his last five matches. He is 1-1 against Van Duijvenbode, but nobody will fancy playing Dirk after yesterday’s display. Dolan has a 4-3 record vs. Van Duijvenbode and is yet to meet Noppert.
The Netherlands are the 1.44 favourites, Northern Ireland 3.00. The money has been shortening Northern Ireland’s odds but hopefully our ante post selection, The Netherlands, can move on and into the semi-finals.
World Cup Darts Sunday Tip: No Bet
Wales vs. Germany
The Welsh dodged a few bullets when being taken to the deciding leg of the deciding pairs match in their 3-2 win over Austria. Gerwyn Price has fluctuated between being brilliant and pumped up, to flat and disappointing. Clayton continues to struggle to get out of second gear. They can play better, but so far, they have been disappointing.
Germany has the crowd behind them, and this has been a noisy one. They have been generous with their abuse of opponents and Price has been getting it BEFORE he has even faced Germany. Maybe the Sunday afternoon crowd will be a little more mellow, but it is advantage Germany from the crowd point of view.
Easy Win
Germany had little trouble beating Denmark 2-0, dropping just two legs. Both players averaged 93 in their 4-1 wins. Solid, if unspectacular. Clemens is the weak link here. He had lost seven of his last ten matches coming into this event and he hasn’t been playing well for a while. He needs to find his A game and his record vs. both Welsh players is poor, 0-4 vs. Price, including a 2-4 World Cup semi-final defeat in 2020. He is 2-8 against Clayton.
Martin Schindler is the anchor-man and has a better H2H record against the Welsh pair, 3-6 vs. Price, and 1-1 vs. Clayton including a 6-0 win last month.
The Welsh are the 1.33 favourites and the Germans 4.00. If the Welsh pair were in top form, then those odds are fair, but they are not. They could/should have been beaten yesterday and Germany are as good a team as Austria, especially if Clemens can find a better game. It looks worth taking a chance on the home crowd to get their way this afternoon.
World Cup Darts Sunday Tip: 1 point Germany to win @ 4.00 with Hills
Belgium vs. Australia
The Aussies needed a decider to get past the very limited Swedish pair of Larsson and Engstrom. Whitlock squeaked past Engstrom 4-3, Heta lost 3-4 to Larsson but they won the pairs easily, 4-1. Their performances in the singles however were far from impressive.
The Belgian pair had no such problems with beating Poland 2-0. They were not great but didn’t need to be. Dimitri van den Bergh is Belgian’s main man, and he has a 3-1 H2H record vs. Whitlock, but is 0-3 vs. Heta, including a 3-6 loss in April. Huybrechts is more unpredictable but desperate to win. He has a 1-1 H2H record vs. Heta, including a 6-3 win in April. He hasn’t played Whitlock since 2018 and their H2H record is 2-2.
Similar Styles
The two sides are very similar looking. Two heavy scores, Heta and Dimitri, and two veterans, Whitlock and Huybrechts. Van den Bergh is a recent title winner while Heta continues to be a bit of a nearly man, having lots of good runs, but not enough finals.
The bookies had been struggling to separate the two, but the market has moved in the Belgians favour, and they are now the 1.85 favourites, with the Aussies 2.00. I have to agree with the market. I do worry about Heta when push comes to shove. This pair have lost at this stage for the last two years, both times to Wales, and I expect something similar here.
World Cup Darts Sunday Tip: 1 point Belgium to win @ 1.85 with Ladbrokes
England vs. Scotland
It would be easy to just say England win and move on, but we have to consider Peter Wright. He is a two time World Champion, and they have great World Cup records, and a two time World Cup winner. John Henderson is a one time World Cup winner, indeed, that is his only professional darts title. They have been there and got the T-shirt.
Wright has also got a good H2H record vs. Smith and Wade in 2022, beating Smith 1-4 and Wade 1-3. Henderson is 4-9 vs. Smith and has lost their last 8 matches and is 1-12 for him vs. Wade.
Wright Holds The Key
Clearly this match is likely to hinge around Peter Wright. He needs to play the captain’s role, but his recent form is not good. He has lost five of his last ten matches, and the ones he won saw him average 91.8. Michael Smith’s most recent form is better than anyone’s, end of. He has won 24 of his last 26 matches and I think he is the winning factor here. It could go to a decider, James Wade is not rock solid, but Smith can carry Wade if needs be.
England are the 1.54 favourites and that is hard to argue with. We have backed England ante-post and that is enough interest for me.
That is it from me this weekend. With the Darts, Formula 1 and US Open all going at the same time this evening, there is too much to watch, never mind write previews for!
