Champions League Darts Tips and Preview

Forget the UEFA Champions League, this weekend is all about the Champions League of Darts. Eight of the top players on the planet will take part and it is live on BBC. James Punt landed a lovely winner on the TXODDS App last week, so make sure to download that to see his daily match previews. You can check out his outright Champions League Darts tips below…

Champions League Darts Tips

The Champions League of Darts is a relatively new tournament and is a rare chance to get the sport onto BBC TV. The top eight players in the rankings as of the end of the World Matchplay are drawn into two groups. They are round robin format with the top two players progressing to the semi-finals. It is possible to get beaten and still win the title, as Gary Anderson did last year, losing to Daryl Gurney but going through on a better leg difference.

Champions League Darts: The Groups

Group A

Michael van Gerwen.

Michael Smith.

Gary Anderson.

James Wade.

Group B

Rob Cross.

Daryl Gurney.

Peter Wright.

Gerwyn Price.

Champions League Darts Preview and Outright Tips

This is only the fourth time it has been played. The previous winners have been Phil Taylor in 2016, Mensur Suljovic in 2017 and Gary Anderson last year. Anderson has the best record having been runner up in 2017 and a semi-finalist in 2016. It is not a terribly prestigious tournament and the prize money is non-counting for ranking purposes. The players love it as they get £10000 for coming last in the group and the tournament winner picks up £100000. Not bad for a weekend’s work.

MVG Looking for First Win

Fresh from winning the World Grand Prix in Dublin last weekend, Michael van Gerwen will be looking to win a title that has eluded him so far. He was runner up in 2016 but that is his only final. He is in good form, winning seven of his last ten and feeling better about things after picking up another major last week. MVG was barely troubled in Dublin, after a narrow escape in the first round, and he will be hard to stop this weekend.

As usual Rob Cross is the second favourite at 6.50 despite not being in top form. He has won six of his last ten matches but he didn’t play in the player’s championships on Monday or Tuesday. He failed to get out of the group stage last year on debut and he is in a tough group this year. That said he has good H2H form with Daryl Gurney and Peter Wright which might be the two wins he needs to progress.

Anderson Has Good Champions League Record

Gary Anderson is the third favourite at 9.00 and he has gone well in this in the past. He is scoring very well but his match craft isn’t the best due to so little competitive darts this year. Six wins from the last ten is OK and he isn’t far from really hitting his best form. He was another who didn’t bother with this weeks player’s championship events and he will not be at this year’s Players Championship Finals.

Peter Wright is 11.00 and he is in excellent recent form. Like Anderson, he has been playing some very good darts but failing to convert that into tournament wins. There are lots of quarter finals and semi-finals but he either throws in a stinker or just loses to someone playing a blinder.

Wright did win another players championship on Tuesday, the last of this year’s player’s championship qualifiers. He was in exceptional form, reaching the quarter-final of PC 29 before going on to win PC 30 the next day. Over the two days he averaged 101.18 and peaked with an average of 123.53 when beating Ratajski 6-0 in PC 29.

Champions League Darts Tips: Wright Is A Contender

It was the kind of darts he was playing in midsummer when he won the German Darts Masters and back to back Player’s Championships. He took that form into the World Matchplay, averaged over a ton in his three matches, but still lost his quarter final to Daryl Gurney. It is hard to win these titles as so many players can produce spectacular performances, but Wright is very much in contention this weekend.

Gerwyn Price makes his debut and he remains in very good form, despite a first round defeat to Dave Chisnall in the Grand Prix. Eight wins from ten is his most recent form and he has a recent euro tour title and a players championship titles to his credit. He had a good run in both this week’s player’s championships, averaging 98.5 over the two days. His odds of 13.00 make some appeal. He has good H2H form with Gurney and Cross which could be his key matches in the group stage.

Gurney Has A Hard Draw

Daryl Gurney is a 15.00 shot but his isn’t the best draw. His more recent form against Anderson and even MVG is better that that against Price or Cross, two players that give him bother. It is not that he can’t beat them, just that historically they have a better record against him.

Gurney will be the centre of attention, win or lose, as he his having his head shaved for charity. Maybe the chrome dome look will make him play like MVG? His recent form shows five wins in his last ten matches, so he is not in his best form but is the kind of player who can hit good form out of the blue.

Bully Boy On The Drift

Michael Smith has drifted out to 17.00 and he is in decent form, winning seven of his last ten matches. His form is reasonably good, but he looks like he needs a bit of a confidence boost. He is very hard on himself, was disgusted with his euro tour form and he is missing a win this year.

He may have moved up to number four in the rankings, but he needs to win something to get his mojo back. That loss at the World Matchplay seems to have set him back somewhat. He really struggles against James Wade and MVG which will make getting out of the group very hard.

James Wade is also a 17.00 joint outsider, which given his form this year is a surprise. However, his most recent form is six wins from ten and he has looked out of sorts. He has won five players championship titles this season but his stage form hasn’t been great of late.  He does have a very good record over Michael Smith, but he will need a win against Anderson or MVG to progress which may be too much to hope for as he is 16-34 vs. Van Gerwen and 16-33 vs. Anderson.

Champions League Darts Tips: Outright Selection

Michael van Gerwen will be many people’s selection after picking up another Major title last week. This should be easier for him as he can lose a match and still win the title. He can be backed at 2.30 which looks about right to me.

A better value selection looks to be last year’s runner up, Peter Wright. His game has been looking sharp recently and it was absolutely spot on in Monday and Tuesday’s player’s championship events. With nine wins from his last ten matches, his is the best recent form. He played the in-form Ratajski twice this week and was 14-1 in legs won. That is a big hint that Snakebite is peaking.

Champions League Darts Tips: 2 points Peter Wright to win @ 11.00 with Betfair, Paddy Power

Wright was all over the 180’s on Monday and Tuesday, hitting 55 in 119 legs. That is a rate of 0.462 per leg. Anything over 0.3 is excellent so approaching 0.5 is exceptional. Smith is another big maximum hitter, but will he be in the tournament long enough? The same can be said about Daryl Gurney and Rob Cross is another who regularly hits a lot of 180’s and he may be the biggest threat.

Champions League Darts Tips: 1 point Peter Wright to have the most 180’s @ 11.00 with Betfair, Paddy Power

 

-JamesPunt