World Matchplay Darts: Semis best bets include shock Taylor exit
Published:Wes Newton had Phil Taylor in trouble early doors in his quarter-final clash only to crumble under pressure, but the way The Power’s next opponent Gary Anderson is playing in Blackpool, a rude awakening could well be on the cards in the semi-finals.
It’s very much the business end of the 2014 World Matchplay Darts at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens as only four men remain standing.
Here’s how we see the semi-final clashes going down here at news.Ladbrokes and the resulting bets:
Van Gerwen’s rise to the top of the darting tree has understandably seen him forge favourable head-to-head records over most of the other big guns in the game.
Whitlock is no different to many of the others, without a win in his last three meetings against the number one seed, who leads 9-4 overall.
Although the Wizard has been working his magic during the 2014 Matchplay to see off Premier League champion Raymond van Barneveld and latterly James Wade, Mighty Mike ominously averaged 102.72 compared to 96.26 in their respective quarter-final ties.
One area Whitlock has been bossing it though is 180’s, hitting the joint most in Blackpool to date and 5/4 says he can hot more than Van Gerwen here.
Although many had expected 2014 UK Open champion Adrian Lewis to end Anderson’s run in the last eight, the Scot had other ideas.
The 2011 Premier League champion smashed Lewis 16-8, at a three-dart average just north of 100 and has none of the pressure going up against The Power.
Taylor, chasing a seventh straight title had to come back from 4-2 down against Newton to set up this clash and showed signs of fallibility early on that Anderson can take advantage of in current form.
But crucially, Anderson had built up a head of steam against Taylor in recent meetings, having won two and drawn one of their last three 2014 contests.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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