The 2024 Betfred World Matchplay gets under way at the Winter Gardens on Saturday night so check out Chris Hammer’s match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports
- Format: First round, best of 19 legs
Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney
- Three-Dart Average (2024): 98.24 – 93.32
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.31 – 0.26
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 41.43% – 43.38%
Gerwyn Price is in real danger of an early exit according to Paul Nicholson’s first-round predictions – but I’m expecting the Iceman to kick of his quest for a first World Matchplay title with a win.
In terms of averages, Price is among the top five in all competitions this season alongside Gary Anderson, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen but strangely this has counted for just one title in the World Series and one ranked final on the European Tour, which he lost to Martin Schindler.
He really struggled to pick up wins during a frustrating Premier League campaign and it certainly feels like he’s lost some of his blockbusting presence of old.
That said he’s still performing much better than Daryl Gurney and although SuperChin did reach a Players Championship final last month, which he lost to Alan Soutar, I can’t see anything other than a relatively comfortable Price victory.
Verdict: 10-6
Jonny Clayton v Raymond van Barneveld
- Three-Dart Average (2024): 93.70 – 93.75
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.19 – 0.24
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 41.00% – 40.95%
Jonny Clayton is one of the form horses in the World Matchplay field based on recent statistics and actually boasts the highest average in PDC Tour based on every player’s last 200 legs played.
This form has helped the Ferret win 17 of his last 19 games and during that run he picked up the most recent Players Championship title last week and also averaged over 100 six times.
Clayton’s season had been very quiet until this welcome return to such encouraging levels and he’ll need to maintain it if he’s to go on and reach the final for the second year running.
Raymond van Barneveld won a Pro Tour title back in March thanks to victories over Michael Smith, Gary Anderson and Stephen Bunting to prove he can still roll back the years while there’s been plenty of other decent results including a European Tour win over Luke Humphries.
This could be an entertaining clash but I’m giving the edge to Clayton.
Verdict: 10-7
Luke Humphries v Ricardo Pietreczko
- Three-Dart Average (2024): 99.28 – 88.95
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.35 – 0.18
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 42.30% – 37.88%
Luke Humphries was given an almighty scare by Ricardo Pietreczko in the early stages of his World Championship-winning campaign but I’d expect Cool Hand to make light work of the German this time around.
There’s over 10 points between them in the seasonal averages and while Humphries has consistently maintained his exceptional world number one standards, Pietreczko looks a shadow of the player who so memorably won a European Tour title back in October.
Humphries will dominate the 180s and if he wins the lion’s share of legs then the high checkout is clearly a likely outcome in a special match treble that gives Pietreczko a three-leg start.
Verdict: 10-5
Nathan Aspinall v Luke Woodhouse
- Three-Dart Average (2024): 94.52 – 93.75
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.27 – 0.27
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 37.39% – 39.84%
Defending champion Nathan Aspinall has been out of sorts since the end of the Premier League, in which he finished a creditable fifth, and apparent injury issues have also prevented him challenging for titles on the World Series or Pro Tour.
He’s averaged over 100 once in his last 18 matches and dropped below 90 on numerous occasions, so he’s certainly vulnerable against Luke Woodhouse, who is making his Winter Gardens debut.
Woodhouse has enjoyed several decent runs on the Pro Tour this season and he also reached the quarter-finals of the Players Championship Finals at the back end of 2023 when beating Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall.
That would have given him belief that he can transfer his potential onto the bigger stages and I’d expect him to push Aspinall very close.
Verdict: 10-8
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