2024 World Matchplay Monday Preview

Things have gone pretty well for us so far at the Winter Gardens. Three winners from four bets on Saturday, three winners from five bets on Sunday and both of our long shot outright bets made it through too. Hopefully the good run continues on Monday night. James Punt’s 2024 World Matchplay Monday previews and tips are below.

Damon Heta vs. Ryan Searle

What kind of form is Heta in? He reached the quarter final of PC14 two weeks ago and has won seven of his last ten matches, so pretty good? Maybe not. He has had four sub 90 averages in his last ten, but still won seven of them. He was dreadful in the World Cup of Darts, but made the semi-final of ET8 late last month, so it is fair to say his form is inconsistent.

Ryan Searle has won six of his last ten matches and his form is nearly a mirror image of Heta’s. Of those last ten, Searle has hit three sub 90 averages, but also three ton plusses. He plays a fairly light schedule and has only played 60 matches in 2024. His warm up for this in the recent Players Championships saw him play four and lose two.

Searle Leads H2H

Their H2H record is 4-1 to Searle and he won their most recent match 6-5 in ET3 in April. Their other match in 2024 was a 6-3 win for Searle. Heta averaged over the ton in both, so Searle can handle the Aussie’s A-game.

Seale has played in three Matchplays, lost two first round matches, but made the quarter final last year. Heta has exactly the same Matchplay record.

Heta is the 1.91 favourite, Searle 2.00. I have Searle as the favourite, but two players who have been playing with no great consistency does not make for a great betting opportunity. No bet.

2024 World Matchplay Monday Tip: No Bet

Michael Smith vs. Gary Anderson

Smith is in decent form, winning seven of his last ten matches, but he hasn’t been in peak form for quite a while. He took a literal and metaphorical holiday after winning the World Championship. He decided to enjoy himself, spend a bit of money, have time out and darts took a back seat.

It is taking him longer than he thought to rediscover the form that won him a Grand Slam and World Championship in quick succession. He did win the World Cup with Luke Humphries, but his only singles title came at PC9 in May. Smith won four matches at the recent Players Championship tournaments, hit a couple of ton plus averages but his last four saw sub 91 averages.

Light Schedule

Gary Anderson has played his usual light schedule in 2024. He was a bit lucky when winning ET4 in April, but that allowed him to skip the last four Euro Tours. The result is that he has only played nine singles matches since that Euro Tour win, nearly three months ago.

Anderson is a very naturally gifted players, he can put his darts away for weeks, and then come out and play well. However, this is a Major Championship, there are no easy matches to play your way in and maybe, even as gifted as he is, Anderson is a bit under practiced?

He played in the Players Championships two weeks ago, and won a couple of matches, beating De Sousa and O’Connor. He played well enough in the World Cup, but he couldn’t carry Peter Wright all the way to the final.

Love/Hate

Anderson has a bit of a love hate relationship with the Winter Gardens. He is on record as saying that he didn’t really enjoy playing in Blackpool. But he did win the title in 2018. The Flying Scotsman was runner up in the Covid Matchplay, held at Milton Keynes, and he has reached two other semi-finals here. He has also lost three first round matches and eight second round matches, so he is no stranger to an early exit.

Their H2H record is totally symmetrical, 15-15. However, Smith has now won their last five matches in a row and it is over two years since Anderson last got a win against Smith. Anderson is the 1.73 favourite with Smith 2.20. I would say that is a fair reflection of their relative chances.

They have played four best of nineteen leg matches over the years, both winning two. Only one went beyond sixteen legs, and the closest was a seventeen leg match. Three quarters of the first round matches played so far have been under 16.5 legs and I’ll take a chance that this will be another.

2024 World Matchplay Monday Tip: 1 point under 16.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfred, SpreadEx, Livescorebet

Michael van Gerwen vs. Luke Littler

Littler prepared for this by playing poorly at the recent Players Championship events, Van Gerwen by having a family holiday in the sun.

MVG has won seven of his last ten matches, but he is not in great form, certainly not by his standards. He has lost that X factor and he is no longer ‘The Man’. That title is currently being fought over by the two Lukes, Humphries and Littler.

It will be Luke Littler who gets on the stage with a bit of a swagger. Like MVG, he has won seven of his last ten matches but unlike MVG, Littler has been picking up titles for fun in 2024. Littler has also kept his playing schedule quite light since the end of the Premier League. He has only played ten matches since the PL finished in late May.

Poland Winner

Of course, he picked up another title in those ten, winning the Poland Darts Masters. He is making his Matchplay debut, but he has coped well with the Majors he has played in so far. Runner up in the World Championship, UK Open quarter finalist and Premier League winner.

These two have already met nine times in 2024, with MVG winning five, Littler four. The last three, all PL matches, were low quality affairs, so we are not guaranteed a classic tonight. MVG has played fifteen Matchplays and only lost three first round matches, but he did lose to Brendan Dolan last year.

Littler is the 1.67 favourite, MVG 2.38. Hard to disagree, and as we have backed Littler outright, that is enough interest in this match for me. No bet.

2024 World Matchplay Monday Tip: No Bet

Chris Dobey vs. Ritchie Edhouse

Dobey is the big favourite here at just 1.36, with Edhouse the 3.50 outsider. Anyone who has been following the Euro Tour maybe surprised to see Edhouse quite so big. Edhouse has reached two Euro Tour quarter finals and is 16th on the European Championship OOM, two places behind Chris Dobey.

Dobey is not in great form, having lost seven of his last ten matches. He has lost three of them with ton plus averages, but he still lost them. Edhouse has lost five of his last ten and his scoring has been weak, with six sub 90 averages. That hot run of form in April-May has ended.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Dobey, with their last match a 6-1 win for Dobey back in 2022. Dobey has played in four previous Matchplays and only won his first match last year, on his way to the quarter final.

Dobey A Bigger Scorer

Dobey is the better player, a far stronger scorer, but he might be a bit low on confidence given his recent record. Edhouse may have a chance if he can keep things close and get Dobey worried that another loss is possible. Dobey can be a bit weak mentally at times, and he has even referred to himself as a bottler. Edhouse is making his debut and his Major experience is not great.

Backing a player who has lost seven of his last ten matches at 1.36 is not for me. It is equally as difficult to consider backing an out of form Edhouse on Matchplay debut.

Edhouse has only played twenty matches in Majors, losing fourteen. If he was in the form he was in a couple of months ago, he would be a cracking bet at the odds, but he is not.

I can’t see any value opportunities in this match. No bet.

2024 World Matchplay Monday Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt