World Matchplay Quarter Finals

Darts fans could be forgiven for having a sense of deja vu Thursday night with the two opening last eight matches having also been quarter-finals in this event in 2013. On that occasion James Wade saw off Simon Whitlock 18-16 in a classic and Michael van Gerwen defeated Dave Chisnall 16-11. Will it be the same again on Thursday evening?

In terms of Whitlock and Wade I think once again it will be a close encounter and as such over 27.5 legs the way to play this at odds of 8/11 with bet365. These two have almost identical head-to-head records having met 31 times before Whitlock winning 17 of these meetings. It is Wade who leads the meetings record in the last year 4-3 including an 18-16 victory in this same event last year and the Machine is 4/6 with the Wizard 6/5 . Form also indicates that these players could be hard to seperate after a poor start to 2014 both players have come back to life winning PDC Tour events in recent weeks. Even the three dart average was close in the last round with Wade producing 95.42 in his 13-2 defeat of Richie Burnett last time out while Whitlock threw 93.54 in a much tougher assignment when seeing off Raymond van Barenveld 13-8. This game has all the ingredients of a classic and by taking the over legs you have yourself covered no matter which player wins the game. The second battle of the evening sees Michael van Gerwen take on Dave Chisnall with bet365 making the Dutchman the 2/9 favourite with Chizzy a 10/3 outsider. This will be the 16th meeting between the pair with Mighty Mike having coming out on top ten times including each of the last three. Chisnall will be looking for revenge after the Dutchman beat him 16-11 at the same stage in the same tournament last year.

The route to this stage has been reasonably trouble free for van Gerwen who saw off Steve Beaton 10-7 in the opener and then Ian White in round two 13-4 while recording a three dart average of 96.75. If you think van Gerwen can ease through again here then you can back him in the handicap market to cover a 4.5 leg margin at 5/6 while Chisnall is the same price with the headstarrt Chizzy started his campaign with a 10-4 victory over Dean Winstanley before a battling 13-10 defeat over Andy Hamilton. He can take heart from a couple of victories over the Dutchman in events at the turn of the year.

I suspect van Gerwen will come out on top though the prices do not appeal so with that being the case I will avoid these markets and look for alternative bets. I like the look of the 180s market which has been set at 17.5. Chisnall was on fire in the second round with the maximums hitting ten while van Gerwen only hit four but was coasting for large parts of the game with White. Mighty Mike hit seven 180s in the first round which is a figure that interest me more and is a truer reflection of his form. bet365 are offering 5/6 that this match has over 17.5 180s and with the longer format of the game this looks good value.

RECOMMENDATION: Wade and Whitlock to go over 27.5 legs, 8/11, bet365
Over 17.5 180s between van Gerwen and Chisnall, 5/6, BET365

Go To bet365

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24/07/2014     © Frixo 2024