Friday 2023 PDC World Championship Tips – JP
Friday 2023 PDC World Championship Preview
Two more winners for James Punt last night and at decent odds too. The corner has been turned, let’s hope for more of the same today. Check out his Friday 2023 PDC World Championship tips below.
Kim Huybrechts vs. Dimitri van den Bergh
An all Belgian fourth round clash for a place in the quarter finals. Huybrechts is the grandfather of Belgian darts, Dimitri the highest ranked of the new breed.
Van den Bergh has not had much of a season, but he is putting together a bit of a run at the big one. He has only dropped the one set so far and while he hasn’t put in any eye-catching displays, he has been quite effective. He has only won five of his last ten matches and he hasn’t been a model of consistency. This will be his fourth 4th round match here and he has won two of the previous three. Their H2H record is 7-5 to Dimitri and he won their only match on TV 10-8.
Low Averages
Kim Huybrechts has won six of his last ten matches, but he has had four sub 86 averages and he only averaged 91.5 when beating Peter Wright 4-1 in the third round. Wright just didn’t turn up and this will be a tougher match against his World Cup partner. The fact that the two are close does cloud the issue.
We saw Rob Cross play his mate Scott Williams earlier in the tournament and it was Williams who played in a more restrained manner, and it didn’t serve him well. Huybrechts is a belligerent type of player who likes to get the adrenaline pumping and this situation might not be a good for him. Huybrechts has played four fourth round matches here and won one, way back in 2012.
This a hard call. Van den Bergh is the better player and deserves to be a strong favourite. He is priced up at best odds of 1.36, with Kim at 3.15. It is a match that I am happy to leave well alone. No bet.
Friday 2023 PDC World Championship tip: No Bet
Gabriel Clemens vs. Alan Soutar
Clemens has quietly gone about his business in fine style so far. He has played 24 legs and had 22 fifteen or less dart legs. That is a hard standard to beat if he keeps it up. He has won five of his last ten matches and averaged comfortably over his seasonal average of 92.4 in both matches so far. Clemens has played in one fourth round here before, losing 2-4 to Ratajski couple of years ago.
Alan Soutar’s love affair with Ally Pally continues after a -2 win over a very disappointing Danny Noppert. The Dutchman was 2-0 up and cruising before he made a mess of finishing a leg, lost it to Soutar and he just fell apart like a clown car. Wheels off, doors off, the lot, all in a moment. It was 12-2 in legs for the last four sets.
Improving Soots
That makes it seven wins from his last ten matches for Soots and a 93.3 average means he has improved round by round, but he has never set the place on fire, which is just as well for a fire fighter. He just has the knack of pulling out a big shot just when he needs it. Soutar has also played one fourth round match here and he lost it 1-4 to Rydz last year.
Their H2H form extends to just one players championship match a couple of months ago and Soutar won that 6-4. It is a hard match to call. Soutar is hard to beat on this stage, while Clemens has played the better darts so far.
Clemens is the 1.83 favourite and Soutar 2.15. The German has been the heavier scorer so far, not by much, but Soutar might just fine him a tough nut to crack and it is the German who is likely to be the crowd favourite with so many German fans making the trip to Muswell Hill this year.
Friday 2023 PDC World Championship tip: 1 point Gabriel Clemens to win @ 1.83 with Unibet, Betfred
Michael Smith vs. Joe Cullen
Smith pulled of a mighty comeback against Martin Schindler. He was 1-3 down but managed to win the last three sets to squeak through. Smith hit a lot of 140s (26) but only six 180s and it was Schindler who was banging them in to gain that early advantage.
He certainly dodged a bullet and will have to be sharper here. Bully Boy has now won nine of his last ten matches so his confidence will be sky high and that helped him come through against Schindler.
Easy Win v Heta
Joe Cullen flattened Damon Heta 4-0. The Aussie won just five legs and his wretched TV form continues. Cullen averaged 98 to go with his 95 when beating Ricky Evans 3-1. He has won seven of his last ten matches and two of his defeats were to Smith, a 15-16 and a 1-5, both at the Grand Slam.
Overall their H2H record 13-10 to Smith and he has won six of their last seven. It is 5-1 in their last six TV matches and 3-1 in 2022, all on TV.
Smith has played in six fourth round matches here and won three, including his last two. Cullen has only played one fourth round match and lost 3-4 to MVG.
Smith Odds On
Smith is the 1.57 favourite and Cullen 2.55. Given their H2H record in recent times, that looks about right, but there is little value in Smith’s price.
Smith was not nailing his 180s to his usual level against Schindler, but he wasn’t far off hitting a shed load. These two hit 25 between then at their Grand Slam quarter-final and hopefully we see something similar today.
