PDC World Darts Championship: Saturday's predictions, odds, betting tips, order of play & TV times
The second round of the 25th PDC World Darts Championship continues today - here's the order of play, our predictions, odds and a suggested acca.
There's six more matches today, split over an afternoon and evening session, with Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney, Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld all in action.
Below is the evening's full running order, complete with the Sky Bet odds, Chris Hammer's predicted scoreline for each game, his suggested bets and accumulator. You can also click here for his outright bets and here for the full tournament draw, daily schedule and results.
World Darts Championship: Saturday December 23
Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets
AFTERNOON SESSION
TV coverage: Sky Sports Darts (1230 GMT)
Second round: (Best of 7 sets)
Keegan Brown (8/13) v Zoran Lerchbacher (5/4)
Former World Youth champion Keegan Brown caused one of the many first-round shocks when defeating James Wade and now finds himself favourite against another unseeded player. Zoran Lerchbacher won eight legs on the trot in defeating Mervyn King, who threw away a 2-0 set lead, so can't be underestimated in what will be a hard-fought contest.
Prediction: 2-4
Michael Smith (23/10) v Rob Cross (1/3)
Undoubtedly the match of the afternoon session and it could potentially be one of the most absorbing of the day. Rob Cross is my outright tip for glory so I'm hoping he can survive this test with the minimum of fuss - and I think he can if he plays to the standards he's set himself this season. Michael Smith can obviously be very good on his day but even then he can be quite up and down with his play - as we saw in that see-saw 3-2 win over Steve Lennon. Regardless of the result, there's going to be lots of 180s thrown and plenty of high finishes.
Prediction: 2-4
Steve West (8/11) v Jermaine Wattimena (11/10)
Jermaine Wattimena goes into this clash as the marginal outsider but I'm keen on his chances if his performance against Joe Cullen is anything to go by. I was bitterly disappointed Cullen lost, but it was a thrilling match of high quality played a breakneck speed while Steve West was aided by a below-par performance by Benito van de Pas. The Englishman will fancy his chances but he'll be given a much stiffer assignment by Wattimena.
Prediction: 2-4
EVENING SESSION
TV coverage: Sky Sports Darts (1900 GMT)
Second round: (Best of 7 sets)
Daryl Gurney (1/7) v John Henderson (9/2)
Daryl Gurney ended John Henderson's remarkable run at the World Grand Prix in the semi-finals with a 4-1 win as he went on to claim his maiden TV title and I'm struggling to see why it will be a much different result tonight. The Northern Irishman is the only player to reach the quarter-finals or better of all the TV majors this season and he'll be confident of keeping that run going here. Gurney posted a 100+ average against Ronny Huybrechts, helped by seven 180s and a 170 checkout, and he'll have too much for steady Big John.
Prediction: 4-1
Phil Taylor (1/12) v Justin Pipe (13/2)
The crowd would have largely been on Phil Taylor's side anyway, but the 'cough-gate' saga means Justin Pipe will have precious little support at all. The Force is known for his character and fighting spirit so he'll be able to block out any booing but I'm concerned about how all the public criticism will affect his preparations from a mental perspective. Phil Taylor looked nervy and jittery against Chris Dobey but I think that was more to do with that worry of a best-of-five being more of a lottery. He won't believe conceding four sets to Pipe is a likely possibility so we should see a much more confident performance this time.
Prediction: 4-1
Raymond van Barneveld (4/9) v Kyle Anderson (7/4)
My bet of the night - and probably the second round - is Kyle Anderson to end the hopes of Raymond van Barneveld. The Aussie didn't really show up in what was a turgid encounter with Peter Jacques last time out but he'll relishing being part of a stellar night at the Ally Pally as he bids to show the world what he can do. The Auckland Darts Masters champion probably still rues those missed darts at doubles he had to beat MVG in that epic European Championship semi-final, in which he fired a nine-darter, but that day we saw what a talent he is. Van Barneveld reeled off an easy 3-0 win over Richard North thanks to an average of 102 but we all know he's prone to surprise defeats these days if the inconsistent Barney turns up.
Prediction: 2-4
Friday's suggested darts bets
- Cross v Smith to have over 23.5 legs, high checkout of over 137.5 & over 14.5 180s at 3/1
- Three or more 100+ checkouts in Gurney v Henderson at 5/4
- Taylor to beat Pipe, score over 4.5 180s and a checkout of over 111.5
- Kyle Anderson to beat Raymond van Barneveld at 7/4