Saturday Night European Darts Open Tips – JP
Saturday Night European Darts Open Preview
James Punt landed another few tasty winners at the darts this afternoon. He is back with another preview for this evening’s session. Get his Saturday night European Darts Open preview and tips below.
Gerwyn Price vs. Krzysztof Ratajski
Price won Night 8 in the Premier League on Thursday night, averaging 114 in the final, beating MVG 6-1. Price is averaging 97.9 in 2023 and he is starting to get back to his best form, but his last four matches have seen two sub 90 averages. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is in great form.
Ratajski is very much on the comeback trail, reaching the final of PC8 on Monday, at tasty odds of 67.00, but he lost that to Gary Anderson. He is hitting more maximums, soring better and averaging 96.5 this season.
He has the firepower to live with the best, but nobody can live with a 114 average should Price repeat the feat of Thursday night. Ratajski has also won eight of his last ten matches and he hit some big numbers on Monday with averages of 109 and 107 on the way to the final.
In Form
Two players who are in great form and hitting big averages should produce a good match. Their H2H record is 9-4 to Price and on the Euro Tour 4-0. Ratajski has only beaten Price once on stage and that was back in 2018.
Gerwyn Price is the 1.33 favourite, Ratajski 3.75. That is being a little dismissive of Ratajski. Mentally, Price may have the Pole’s number, but it is a first to six leg format and I would say it should be closer than the odds suggest.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: 1 point Ratajski to win +2.5 legs @ 1.83 with Paddy Power
Luke Humphries vs. Brendan Dolan
Humphries has won eight of his last ten matches and is averaging 97.2 in 2023. Dolan hit a nine darter at the players championship earlier in the week and backed it up by beating Steve Lennon 6-1 yesterday. He was helped by Lennon missing eight of his nine darts at double. That made it seven wins from his last ten matches and his seasonal average is 92.7.
Their H2H record is 3-1 to Humphries. They met twice last year, once on the Euro Tour and Humphries won both 6-4 and 6-0. The Englishman has the superior firepower, and he is a Euro Tour specialist, which Dolan is not. Humphries has won 18 of his 24 opening matches on the Euro Tour, he won four ET titles in 2022 and was runner up in ET1 last month.
Humphries is the 1.44 favourite and Dolan a 3.00 chance. It would be a surprise id Dolan were to win but he is in decent form and is easy to underestimate. It is not a betting match for me. – Late News – Humphries has withdrawn due to illness and Dolan gets a bye into the third round.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: No Bet
Michael Smith vs. Rene Eidams
Smith is the shortest priced player of the day at just 1.06. Eidams beat the fancied young Dutch talent Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 last night and while he will have the crowd on his side again, this is a very different task. Smith may not be winning too many matches at the moment, he has lost six of his last ten, but this should be a nice opening match for him. A betting opportunity? No.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: NO Bet
Peter Wright vs. Ricardo Pietreczko
The diminutive German had the crowd in raptures last night, hitting a 170 to close his match with Geert Nentjes and a solid 6-2 win and a 97 average. He now faces an out sorts Peter Wright.
The two time winner of this event, Wright has lost six of his last ten matches. He has only played ten matches in the last month. Chris Dobey has played more in the last six days.
Pietreczko has won six of his last ten matches and while consistency is not his friend, he has wins over Ross Smith and Jonny Clayton in the last week, so an out of form Wright is within his radar.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: 1 point Pietreczko to win @ 3.25 with Unibet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Raymond van Barneveld
The evening’s glamour tie. These two have had some classics but it is MVG who has a 41-19 H2H record over his old rival. He has won their last six matches and RVB’s last win over Van Gerwen was back in 2018. They have only met four times on the Euro Tour, MVG has won them all. The last two, both played in 2019, required a deciding leg.
These two have played thirteen best of 11 leg matches and amazingly, MVG has won them all. He is the 1.33 favourite to extend that run. RVB is playing well enough, winning seven of his last ten matches and averaging 95.1 in 2023.
Their last five best of eleven leg matches have seen three 6-5s and the two most recent ended 6-3.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: 0.5 point Michael van Gerwen to win 6-3 @ 5.50 with Betfred
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. James Wade
James Wade dispatched an out of form Florian Hempel 6-1 last night, making it six wins from his last ten. He is averaging 95.1 in 2023, which is better than Van den Bergh’s 93.9. Dimitri has won seven of his last ten and is starting to look like he is hitting some decent form, with a bit more consistency.
Their H2H record is a bit strange. They have met eight times and Wade has won three, Dimitri two and there has been three draws. Most of their matches have been close with the exception of their last match, a 6-0 win for Wade in a World Series match last year.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Hills
Martin Schindler vs. William O’Connor
O’Connor only averaged 89 when defeating Kantele 6-3. He has been playing quite well lately and I expect a better performance tonight.
Schindler is hard to pin down. He too has won six of his last ten matches. He reached the semi-final of PC5 two weeks ago but won just the two matches since. He reached the quarter final of ET1 last month. In the last year he has lost half of his opening matches on the Euro Tour.
There is no extensive H2H form to go on, Schindler won their only previous match 6-2 back in 2020. Schindler has the home crowd advantage and is the 1.67 favourite, with O’Connor 2.30. I would have them closer than that but the odds are not wildly wrong.
One part of Schindler’s game is well above average and that is his 180 hitting. He is ranked 7th for 180s per leg over the last 12 months with 0.32.
Saturday night European Darts Tip: 1 point Martin Schindler to hit the most 180s @ 1.80 with Boylesports
Josh Rock vs. Ian White
Rock was runner up in PC7 last Sunday, losing 4-8 to MVG, but he hit three ton plus averages and his lowest was 94.5. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is averaging 96.9 in 2023.
Ian White, restored to good health after gall bladder surgery, is playing more like how he used to. The confidence is coming back and he played well to beat the German favourite, Gabriel Clemens, 6-5 last night. His win rate in 2023 is 75%, he has won eight of his last ten matches and is averaging 94.7.
Rock is the heavier scorer but White is steady enough to win legs and make Rock work if he is to justify odds of 1.40. They have not played each other before so no H2H form to go on.
Rock should win and deserves to be favourite, but I’ll take a chance on White being harder to beat than the bookies think.
