2023 World Matchplay Monday Preview

James Punt got the scoreline right in the MVG v Dolan match, but not the result. Dolan shocked Van Gerwen out but on the upside, James’ two outright picks both advanced. We go again tonight, check out his 2023 World Matchplay Monday tips below.

Sunday Review

Yesterday was disappointing tips wise. Losing both 2 pointers was poor and it leaves us -3.77 points down on the event so far from the nine bets advised. It was not all bad news however as the shock exit of joint favourite Michael van Gerwen has opened things up in the o/r betting market.

Michael Smith and Luke Humphries won their first round matches, both by 10-2 margins. Humphries was particularly impressive, averaging 101.78, the highest average seen so far.

Smith only averaged 88.96 but it was one of those matches where the players dragged each other down and there was only ever going to be one winner.

Smith plays Chris Dobey tomorrow night, Humphries faces Dirk van Duijvenbode on Wednesday. Before then we have the last of the first round matches to be played this evening.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Ross Smith

Dimitri van den Bergh is back to where he loves to be, the Matchplay. He has played in three, won one, was runner up in his second and a semi-finalist last year.

He has played 13 and won 11, a pretty decent strike rate. His win was behind closed doors in Milton Keynes but he has proven that he can do it on the Winter Garden stage as well. He seems to be a player who draws on positive mental associations.

Dimitri is a different player in World Series events and always seems to compete well in those events, and likewise at the Matchplay, the only major he has won.

Van den Bergh has won six of his last ten matches and three of his wins came in the Polish Masters where he reached the final and averaged 101 across his four matches. He then went to the Players Championship events and averaged 91.4. He is a better player on the stage.

Consistent Smith

Ross Smith has lost six of his last ten matches but isn’t playing badly. His last three matches saw him average 96, 99 and 95 and he lost all three. His seasonal average is 95.7 and his win rate 65%. He is a pretty consistent performer, maybe one in ten matches is a duff one, but that’s still good enough to be able to win things.

Smith is ranked 2nd for 180s per leg in the last 12 months (0.38 per leg) and when he starts to really ping them, he is hard to beat.

Their H2H record is 5-2 to Ross Smith. He won their only match this year and he beat Van den Bergh 10-8 in last year’s European Championship, which he went on to win, so he has his own positive mental association to draw on.

Dimitri Fav

Van den Bergh is the 1.91 favourite, Smith 2.00. It is a hard one to call. The event specialist vs. a player who has a good record against him and who is scoring well. Smith has only played here once and lost in the first round, but he is a major winner since then.

In their last three matches these two have hit the 180s at a rate of 0.781 per leg and I expect this to be a reasonably close match, 16 – 18 legs. A dozen or more maximums is a reasonable expectation.

2023 World Matchplay Monday Tip: 1 point over 11.5 180s @ 2.00 with SpreadEx

Ryan Searle vs. Raymond van Barneveld

Heavy Metal Ryan Searle has upped the weight of his darts by a further 2 grams recently and it may have done the trick as his recent form has picked up after a bit of a lull.

He has won seven of his last ten matches, reaching the semi-final of PC15 last Monday. Searle is a major winner after winning the 2021 Players Championship, but he has not made a great impression in the other big ones.

Barney hasn’t played here since 2018, he was runner up in 2010 and he has only lost two first round matches in twelve appearances. Of course, his best days are behind him, but he is still playing to a decent standard, averaging 94 in 2023.

His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches and he warmed up for this by losing both his first round matches in last week’s Players Championships.

Their H2H record is 5-2 to Ryan Searle and 1-1 in 2023, both requiring a deciding leg. Of the seven they have played, four have gone to a decider.

Searle is the 1.85 favourite with Barney 2.10. The odds look about right and this is a match which makes no real betting appeal. No bet.

2023 World Matchplay Monday Tip: No bet

Peter Wright vs. Andrew Gilding

This is curious one. Peter Wright, the 2021 champion, is having a stinker of a season. He did win a World Series event in January and the Czech Darts Open in May, but since that win he has played just five matches and lost four. That’s over a month since he has played a competitive match.

All of those last five matches saw sub 90 averages and the last match a sub 80. Having not seen him in action for weeks it is hard to say where his game is, but it was gone when we did last see him.

Andrew Gilding was the surprise winner of the UK Open back in early March. Since then he has had a Euro Tour quarter final, a Players Championship semi-final and two quarter finals, including one last Tuesday. He has won seven of his last ten matches but not with a great deal of consistency.

Their H2H record is 6-1 to Peter Wright. Gilding’s sole win came in their last match over a year ago. Peter Wright is the 1.62 favourite, Gilding 2.40.

Is Wright being priced on reputation ahead of form? It would seem so. There is a good argument to say that Gilding should be favourite, so poor was Wright’s form before he went AWOL.

2023 World Matchplay Monday Tip: 1 point Andrew Gilding to win @ 2.38 with Hills, BET365, Betvictor

Jonny Clayton vs. Gabriel Clemens

Jonny Clayton didn’t play since winning the World Cup of Darts a month ago, but he played in the two Players Championship events last week and reached two quarter finals.

That means he has won eight of his last 10 matches and will be feeling good coming into this event. Hopefully that will allow him to play his game because he has not enjoyed much success here, winning just one match from five appearances.

Clemens hasn’t done a lot since reaching the semi-final of the World Championship. His 2023 win rate is just 55% and since being runner up in PC3 in February, he has not strung any decent runs together. He has played in three Matchplays but only won one match, back in 2020.

Neither player could be called a tournament specialist but one of them will double their win tally tonight. Their H2H record is very encouraging for Ferret fans, 10-2 to the Welshman. Clayton has won their last five in a row and the German has not tasted victory against Jonny since 2020. Clayton has won all three of their TV matches and all of their stage matches.

Clayton is the 1.48 favourite, Clemens the 2.90 outsider. Again, it is hard to argue with that. I’ll take my chance on the handicap.

2023 World Matchplay Monday Tip: 1 point Clayton to win -2.5 legs @ 1.95 with Fitzdares

-JamesPunt