World Matchplay Preview: Can Michael van Gerwen claim third title?
Published:
The tournament starts in Milton Keynes this weekend
The World Matchplay is back for another year and Michael van Gerwen is looking to win the competition for a third time.
The Dutchman won two successive titles in 2015 and 2016 but hasn’t tasted success since, with Rob Cross beating Michael Smith in last year’s final.
The World Matchplay is back in Milton Keynes and ahead of the first round of matches, we take a look at the key fixtures taking place this weekend.
Van Gerwen meets Dolan in the first round and the two-time winner is the clear favourite to progress to the next stage.
Our traders have him at 1/11 to win, with Dolan going at 13/2. Van Gerwen is also the overwhelming favourite to win the competition at 81/50.
But Dolan could spring a surprise and the Northern Irishman is 9/2 to get the most 180s and 50/1 to be crowned King of the Oche.
Anderson is looking to win the competition again after coming out on top in 2018 and he’s a 16/1 shot to go all the way.
First up is Pipe, who is 10/3 to cause an upset against Anderson, who is priced at 2/9. Pipe is a huge 300/1 in the outright market.
Pipe could start quickly and is going at 16/5 to win the first leg, while Anderson can be backed at 40/1 to score a nine-dart finish.
After winning the competition last year, Cross is an outsider at 20/1 to retain his crown and he begins his title defence against Clemens.
Cross is the favourite to progress at 8/15 but Clemens is no pushover and will fancy his chances at 6/4. The German is also 6/5 to score the highest checkout.
It could be a high-scoring match and Cross is 10/11 to score the most 180s, while over 11.5 180s in total can be backed at 27/10.
Wright is just behind Van Gerwen in the outright market at 11/2 and he should get off to a good start against De Sousa, who is the first ever Portuguese player in the competition.
De Sousa can be backed at 21/10 to cause an upset, with Wright priced at 4/11. Meanwhile, De Sousa is 10/1 to be King of the Oche.
Wright will want to get his first-round match done and dusted quickly but his opponent could make it tricky for him and over 18.5 legs is 4/1.
View the latest darts odds.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
