World Matchplay betting tips: ‘Snakebite’ to back up boast
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Preview and odds for Sunday’s final
It has been an enthralling tournament with a top-class final in store on Sunday as we look at some World Matchplay betting tips.
The winner is the first to 18 legs, although the match must be won by two clear legs and will be extended if necessary to a maximum of five extra legs before a sudden-death leg is required.
The event takes place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, and is live on Sky Sports at 8.30pm.
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Peter Wright
The World Matchplay betting tips suggest number two seed Wright is a warm favourite at 8/13 to win the title.
‘Snakebite’ has had a quiet year in the major events so far in 2021 but has picked up three Players Championship titles, most recently when defeating Michael van Gerwen 8-2 in the final of the Players Championship 20 in Coventry.
He repeated the trick in the semi-final at the Empress Ballroom with a superb 110.37 three-dart average to defeat two-time champion Van Gerwen 17-10.
In a clinical display, ‘Snakebite’ tallied 12 180s, three ton-plus checkouts and 45% on his doubles to deny MVG.
Not that Van Gerwen played badly – far from it – this was a quality semi-final with the Dutchman averaging 101.
Though down 5-2, Van Gerwen battled back to reduce the deficit to 6-4 at the break.
But after it, Wright assumed his dominance, a 10th 180 and an 81 checkout for an 11-darter opened up a lead to 9-4 and an average of 113. He also missed double 12 for a nine-darter in leg 12.
Wright is 7/2 to be King of the Oche (to win the match, hit the most 180s and the highest checkout) while he is 7/4 to win the final by 4.5 legs or more.
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There were a couple of wobbles, missing a couple of important doubles as Van Gerwen hit back to reduce the lead to 10-8 and 11-9, but incredible 149 and 121 checkouts from Wright broke his opponent at 14-10 and he eased away for a remarkable success.
Although the closest he came to winning was in 2017, when runner-up to Phil Taylor, Wright is one step away from at least ensuring the first leg of his pre-tournament boast he was going to “win the Worlds and the Matchplay this year”, comes up trumps.
The World Matchplay betting tips show Van den Bergh is the underdog at 13/10 to retain the Phil Taylor Trophy.
The defending champion aims for back-to-back titles after coming from 6-2 down to beat Krzysztof Ratajski 17-9.
The Polish number one missed two darts for a 7-2 lead but crucially Van den Bergh broke back and Ratajski continued to miss doubles, allowing the Belgian to win five legs on the spin and claim a 7-6 lead.
A 128 finish and two further legs saw Van den Bergh storm to a 10-7 lead and while Ratajski reduced the lead to 10-9, missed doubles continued to plague him and the champion needed no second invitation and stormed clear for a decisive success.
Van den Bergh is 2/1 to win the final conceding 2.5 legs on the handicap and is 19/10 to throw the most 180s.
With these two – who both featured in our pre-tournament World Matchplay winner odds, in supreme form, 11/10 for five or more 100-plus checkouts in the final may interest some and it is Evens that Wright hits a bullseye finish in the match.
In what promises to be a thrilling climax to another great PDC event, it is 8/11 that the final will finish in under 31.5 total legs.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
