Christmas and the New Year at the Ally Pally feels like a distant memory now. As we head into a new season, all the players will be hoping to make a good start. So will our top darts tipster James Punt and he is back in action this weekend. Check out his free 2020 Ladbrokes Masters tips and in depth preview below…

2020 Ladbrokes Masters Tips 

The 2020  darts season kicks off with the Ladbrokes Masters. This will be the eighth staging of the event which has been won for the last five years by Michael van Gerwen, who was also runner up in 2014. Mighty Mike, who has signed a new deal with Winmau to be his dart/clothing manufacturer, has played 25 Masters matches and won 23. Since the tournament moved to its present venue in Milton Keynes, he is unbeaten with 20 straight match wins.

The tournament is very straight forward with the top 16 ranked players playing a straight knockout format. The number 1 seed, MVG, plays the number 16 seed, Jonny Clayton and so on. Prizemoney earned (£60000 to MVG….sorry, to the winner) is not counted towards the world rankings and as such, some players may not give this event their full attention.

£5000 for turning up is a nice start to the year but clearly Van Gerwen sees it differently. The Premier League starts the following Thursday and MVG likes to get the year going with a tournament win before the long drag around the UK and Europe for the Premier League campaign.

2020 Ladbrokes Masters Tips: New Darts For MVG

The fact that Van Gerwen has changed equipment might be a slight cause for concern, but maybe that concern will be for his opponents. He is unlikely to start playing with darts he doesn’t get on with and he has a vested interest to start winning with them ASAP and get the replicas flying off the shelves.

I imagine Winmau are expecting sales of MVG darts, shirts, flights, stems and boards to run into millions of pounds and he will be on a healthy percentage. We saw Dave Chisnall change his supplier last year and his form improved as a result. New World Champion, Peter Wright, was singing the praises of some new darts he got from Red Dragon before the start of the tournament, so new equipment is perhaps more likely to see an upturn in form, as a dip.

To win this title, a player must win just four matches. That is an easy workload compared to other tournaments. Tiredness should not be an issue, but contention rust might be. January is a holiday month for the top pros. Most will not have played a competitive match for over a month. The players need to have their time off and many will have been away to get some winter sun and spend time with their families. Practice will not have been top of the to do list.

Perhaps this goes some way to explain why MVG has been so successful in this event. He is the best player in the world and if everyone is a bit rusty his extra bit of class can be the deciding factor.

Can The Scotsman Make A Flying Start?

Gary Anderson is a player who has been known not to be a big one for practising, partly due to the need to look after his various ailments, and he too might be able to hit the ground running that bit faster than some others. He has vowed to put in more work this season, give it his absolute best shot in an attempt to keep his career going at the elite level.

He was runner up here in 2017 and a semi-finalist in 2018 before he had to withdraw with injury last year. It will be interesting to see how he starts the season after a year where he picked up just one title, The World Cup of Darts, alongside Peter Wright.

Anderson faces Ian White in the first round. That looks very winnable given that White has lost all five of his Masters matches. Others with poor records include Daryl Gurney, who has lost both his first round matches here. Gerwyn Price and Rob Cross have won just one of their three matches here. Michael Smith, fresh from his holiday in Thailand has won just two from six while Simon Whitlock has one win from seven.

2020 Ladbrokes Masters Tips: No Current Form To Go On

With MVG dominating the tournament, there are not many other players with good records. Anderson has played 13 and won 8, James Wade, the 2014 champion, has played 18 and won 13, Chizzy has played 14, won 7 while Adrian Lewis has played 14 and won 8. On past form, MVG is the standout candidate.

Current form is not that current with players having had the month off. Peter Wright comes here as the new World Champion and he will have spent the first part of the month doing lots of PR. There is a chance that he will be suffering from a bit of mental let down after his big win. He has won his last five first round matches here but never gone beyond the semi-final, winning six of his thirteen Masters matches.

Van Gerwen’s defeat in the World Championship final was his only defeat in his last ten matches and he has bounced back from defeat in the World Championship to win this title twice before.

Gerwyn Price has won sixteen of his last eighteen matches, but we have seen him return from a lay off with a nice tan but some sloppy darts in the past.

Can Cross Rediscover His Best Form?

Rob Cross ended 2019 in poor form. He won the European Championship at the end of October, but his throwing action was off after that and he lost five of his last nine matches. He has had time to address the problem, but we won’t know if he has until he starts his first-round match with Adrian Lewis.

Michael Smith had a disappointing 2019, no titles won and while his ranking is now up to 5th in the World, that TV title is still eluding him. His 2019 season fizzled out and he has to start all over again, trying to stop frustration dragging him down.

Gary Anderson and current form was a bit of an oxymoron in 2019 such was his light schedule. While he lacked consistency and match fitness, he was playing some very good stuff when he finally got to playing more often in late 2019. He may have slipped to number six in the world rankings, but he is far from finished at this top level.

Daryl Gurney missed out on a major title in 2019 but added a euro tour title and another pro tour title to his CV. He had another disappointing World Championship. However his A game is never far away and he rarely has an absolute stinker. He just needs to find top gear a little more often.

Nathan Aspinall is the only debutant in the field, and he was one of the best players of 2019. We won his first major at the UK Open, his first World Series title in the summer and ended the year with his second World Championship semi-final in a row. His rise is still in progress.

The Machine Lacks Consistency

James Wade, after a stellar 2018, was pretty ordinary in 2019. He was a Premier League semi-finalist and won no less than five pro tour titles but his stage form, particularly later in the season was disappointing. He has lost half of his last twenty matches.

Dave Chisnall, like Michael Smith, is still looking for that big TV major title. His switch to a new darts manufacturer gave his form a boost. However, in terms of being a good bet to actually win tournaments, especially televised ones, he is not high on the list.

Ian White reached is first ever major semi-final at the end of November in the Players Championship finals, but he is another that finds TV camera’s a limiting factor to his form. He was shooting some impressive numbers at the end of last season but his record here is appalling.

Mensur Suljovic dropped off the radar a bit in 2019. He did win the Austrian Darts Championship in September and his floor form was good but his stage form at the business end of the season was disappointing. Losing 1-3 to Fallon Sherrock in the World Championship was a disappointing end to a disappointing season.

Adrian Lewis showed signs of a return to form, not for the first time it must be said. He increasingly looks like a player who, despite being just 34, has his best days behind him. He is just about good enough to stay in the top 16, have some good runs but ultimately just falls short of winning more titles.

Can Life Begin At 50 For The Wizard?

Simon Whitlock refuses to go away but winning titles looks less and less likely. He hit the big 50 last year and while he will always get the most out of his game, time is against him. His record here is poor and he might just be one of those players who struggles after a break.

Joe Cullen finds himself as the world’s number 15, despite a quiet 2019. He finally got his debut euro tour title after years of near misses. It wasn’t a sign of things to come however and his 2019 season ended with his usual first round exit at Ally Pally.

Jonny Clayton brings up the rear and as the 16th seed he has the dubious honour of facing MVG in the first round. His only title in 2019 came back in April on the pro tour. It must be said that his form at the end of 2019 was very inconsistent.

MVG A Worthy Favourite

Last year we had a strong 5 point bet on MVG to win this title at even money which he did with ease. He loves to win titles, he likes to dominate, he will be very proud of winning this five times in a row and will be fully prepared to make it six.

This year MVG is the 2.25 favourite, better odds than in 2019. Is this because he lost the World Championship? Maybe, but he has won it before after disappointment at Ally Pally. Is it because he has new equipment? Maybe, but that might just re-energise him further. The only good reason I can see for the better odds is that he might have to face Nathan Aspinall in the quarter final and The Asp is a player who has caused him problems in the past. However, he beat Aspinall in the World Championship, so he has that fresh win to draw upon.

At odds against, MVG is the obvious call once again.

2020 Ladbrokes Masters Tips: 4 points Michael van Gerwen to win outright @ 2.25 with Sporting Index

In the bottom half of the draw, Gary Anderson makes some appeal. He faces Ian White in the first round and that has been effectively a bye for Whites first round opponents in the past. He will then be likely to face Gerwyn Price in the quarter final. Price may well be opposable after his winter break. This is not a big deal for him, he hasn’t played well here in the past and if his mind is still on the beach, Anderson will need no invitation to take advantage. Anderson needs a good 2020 to keep his ranking up as he is defending two ranking major titles. This doesn’t count ranking wise, but it may be an indicator as to how well prepared he is. Daily previews will be posted on the TXApp.

2020 Ladbrokes Masters Tips: 0.5 point e/w Gary Anderson @ 15.00 with Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred

 

-JamesPunt