World Grand Prix darts: Tuesday predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

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• Outright betting preview and tips

It's time for another much-needed dose of televised darts and although we'll be missing the usual vocal crowd of Dublin, there should be no shortage of double-start drama behind closed doors in Coventry.

Eight best-of-three set matches will grace the stage at the Ricoh Arena tonight so let's run through them all, with bets suggested for four of them...

World Grand Prix: Tuesday October 6

SUGGESTED ACCA

• Dobey, Suljovic, De Sousa, Anderson, Smith at 13/1
• Click here to build your acca at Sky Bet

EVENING SESSION

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
• Second round: Best of three sets

Adrian Lewis (6/5) v Chris Dobey (4/6)

*LEWIS OUT FOLLOWING POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST*

• Career PDC titles: 26-0 (TV: 9-0)
• Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 16th - 18th
• ProTour Order of Merit: 48th - 29th
• World Grand Prix best: RU (2010) - SF (2019)
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 17/15 - 3/1

Adrian Lewis sneaked into the World Grand Prix field by just £6,000 ahead of 17th placed Simon Whitlock on the main Order of Merit which was just as well considering he was nowhere on the ProTour list after a pretty dreadful 2020 so far.

Jackpot did show glimpses of promises at the World Matchplay, where he reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to Dimitri Van den Bergh, but ultimately his form since then at the Autumn Series and at the German Darts Championship doesn't suggest and inspired run is round the corner.

I've talked up the chances of 2019 semi-finalist Chris Dobey in my outright preview and so for those reasons I'm siding with the start of a potential Hollywood story.

Prediction: 0-2

Danny Noppert (4/6) v Ryan Searle (6/5)

• Career PDC titles: 1-3 (TV: 0-0)
• Titles this season: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 22nd - 38th
• ProTour Order of Merit: 12th - 28th
• World Grand Prix best: Rd 2 (2019) - Debut
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 1/2 - Debut

Danny Noppert is turning into quite a prolific qualifier of major tournaments and heads to his third World Grand Prix on the back of more encouraging performances on the circuit.

The Dutchman had a pretty solid Autumn Series and then reached the semi-finals of last weekend's European Tour event, while Ryan Searle hasn't been quite as consistent since the restart, albeit reaching the last four of one Players Championship tournament.

Searle did beat MVG to win his third PDC title back in February and clearly has plenty more to come at this stage of his career but perhaps current form and tournament experience points to Noppie.

Prediction: 2-1

Mensur Suljovic (1/2) v Dirk van Duijvenbode (13/8)

• Career PDC titles: 7-0 (TV: 2-0)
• Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 15th - 71st
• ProTour Order of Merit: 10th - 24th
• World Grand Prix best: SFx3 - Debut
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 9/5 - Debut

There have been few players better than Mensur Suljovic at double-start darts over the past five years having reached three World Grand Prix semi-finals and this format could be the ideal platform to play his way back into form on the major stage.

The Austrian, who lost in round one to Rob Cross 12 months ago, hasn't been the force he was in 2018 but showed signs of revival at the recent Autumn Series, where he was runner-up to MVG in one event and lost to Gerwyn Price in a quarter-final.

Dirk van Duijvenbode has done well to book his place in his first World Grand Prix and while his form since the restart hasn't been as sparkling as it was towards the start of 2020, he was unfortunate to run into MVG twice at the Autumn Series. Overall, his lack of experience in this format could be his undoing.

Just a shame his walk-on won't be greeted by a crowd.

Prediction: 2-0

Jose De Sousa (11/10) v Devon Petersen (8/11)

• Career PDC titles: 2-1 (TV: 0-0)
• Titles this season: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 43rd - 41st
• ProTour Order of Merit: 19th - 6th
• World Grand Prix best: Debut - Debut

Devon Petersen is very much the man of the moment and many will fancy him to enjoy a lengthy dream debut this week even though he starts off against the dangerous Jose De Sousa and could then meet Michael van Gerwen.

The African Warrior, who became his continent's first ever PDC champion at last weekend's German Darts Championship, has blowing everyone away on the circuit since blasting out of the blocks after the season resumption and that maiden title has been very much on the cards.

It could have come sooner had he not agonisingly missed multiple match darts in Pro Tour semi-finals and a final against Gerwyn Price but he never let those experiences get him down for long and he fittingly overcame the Iceman en route to glory in front of a crowd.

Both these players are ranked outside the world's top 40 but nobody would be surprised to see them vying for a spot inside the elite 16 before too long if they can transfer their performances into the big-money events.

I've been reliably informed by Paul Nicholson that Jose De Sousa is a handy double-start player even though this is his World Grand Prix debut whereas Devon Petersen's incredible 180 hitting this season won't count for much if he doesn't get away quickly. That's not to say he won't, but he's still an unknown quantity in this format and I might side with the outsider.

That said, I do like the look of the 5/1 about De Sousa winning the match but Petersen, who has turned into a real maximum machine, hitting most 180s.

Prediction: 2-1

Suggested bet: De Sousa to win and Petersen to hit most 180s at 5/1

James Wade (4/7) v Mervyn King (11/8)

• Career PDC titles: 37-8 (TV: 10-0)
• Titles this season: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 8th - 23rd
• ProTour Order of Merit: 7th - 20th
• World Grand Prix best: Winner (2007, 2010) - RU (2012)
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 24/15 - 14/13

These two warriors must be sick of the sight of each other as they prepare for their 50th career meeting and their second in the World Grand Prix having met here 12 months ago in the second round.

Mervyn King defeated the two-time champion 3-1 before bowing out in the quarter-finals, while a recent victory over Wade during the German Darts Championship means they have now beaten each other 24 times, with one solitary Premier League draw.

The Machine has of course inflicted two of The King's most painful experiences - the finals of the 2007 Premier League and 2014 Masters. The latter was particularly galling for King, who led 9-2 before Wade pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time to deny him a maiden PDC major.

Both players have very strong records in double-start format so this one is so tough to call but I'm going to give the edge to the 54-year-old, who has shown encouraging signs of form and reached the semi-finals last weekend in Germany.

King's player performance targets with Sky Bet seem quite modest so I'll take the 3/1 on him to win, hit over 1.5 180s and checkout over 70.5.

Prediction: 1-2

Suggested bet: Mervyn King to win, score over 1.5 180s and checkout over 70.5 at 3/1

Rob Cross (5/4) v Gary Anderson (8/13)

• Career PDC titles: 12-47 (TV: 4-15)
• Titles this season: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 5th - 9th
• ProTour Order of Merit: 14th - 25th
• World Grand Prix best: Rd2 (2019) - RU (2016)
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 1/3 - 16/10

Gary Anderson will be well rested but also prepared and recharged to the max having withdrawn from the recent Autumn Series and the World Series of Darts Finals over the past few weeks.

There couldn't have been a worse 'reward' for being fifth seed than to get thrown Gary Anderson in the first round, although some will say it does at least give him a better chance than had he, for example, run into him at the quarter-final stage or later.

Voltage so nearly added a fifth televised title to his collection by upsetting the form book at the World Series of Darts Finals and although Gerwyn Price's comeback denied him, at least it helped him consign a rotten Premier League to the past.

This could go closer and be pretty nervy for two of the sport's big names but ultimately I'll side with Anderson to edge it.

Prediction: 1-2

Suggested bet: Match to have over 8.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 100.5 and over 3.5 total 180s at 5/4

Michael van Gerwen (4/9) v Krzysztof Ratajski (7/4)

• Career PDC titles: 131-7 (TV: 54-0)
• Titles this season: 4-1 (TV: 1-0)
• PDC Order of Merit: 1st - 33rd
• ProTour Order of Merit: 3rd - 4th
• World Grand Prix best: Winner (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) - Rd 1 (2019)
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 26/9 - 0/1

I've written about MVG and Krzysztof Ratajski in great detail in my overall outright preview (click here to read), so you may already know that I'm siding with an upset here.

You can see by the odds that it would hardly be the biggest shock in the world, and while I do expect MVG to be as fired up as ever to bounce back on the big stage, that hasn't necessarily counted for as much as it used to in previous times. As we saw during the Premier League no-less.

I'm no critic of MVG at all, as I've written before, but Ratajski is very dangerous and this prediction is more about his potential to go far rather than any doom and gloom about the world number one.

Prediction: 1-2

Michael Smith (4/6) v Dimitri Van den Bergh (6/5)

• Career PDC titles: 10-1 (TV: 1-1)
• Titles this season: 0-1 (TV: 0-1)
• PDC Order of Merit: 4th - 11th
• ProTour Order of Merit: 12th - 47th
• World Grand Prix best: Rd 2 (2015, 2019) - Rd 1 (2019)
• World Grand Prix Wins/Losses: 2/7 - 0/1

As you can see from the stats above, Michael Smith has a terrible record in the World Grand Prix with just two match wins across his seven appearances, so I doubt he'll be that bothered about the change in venue.

Bully Boy's doubling has also hampered his pursuit of form since the restart - particularly in the Premier League - while he endured a miserable Autumn Series and also missed 20 of his 28 darts at the outer ring during a 10-8 defeat in the quarter-finals of the World Series.

It'd be therefore quite ironic if he chose this week to win his first and long-awaited PDC major but clearly a million more stranger things have happened in sport in 2020.

One of those was Dimitri Van den Bergh was turning up for the World Matchplay on the back of rotten form but winning his first ever senior PDC title of any kind in the second biggest major of them all at odds of over 100/1.

Spending lockdown in Peter Wright's house clearly made a much quicker impact than many expected although the benefits haven't translated to the floor following another tame run of displays at the Autumn Series.

Smith just about gets the nod from me and I'll throw in the most 180s to enhance the odds to 7/4.

Prediction: 0-2

Suggested bet: Smith to win and hit most 180s at 7/4

Click here for full 2020 World Grand Prix draw and schedule

Related links

• 2020 World Grand Prix draw and schedule
• 2020 Premier League fixtures & results
• 2020 PDC event calendar & results
• 2020 World Darts Championship results
• 2019 PDC event results
• Sky Bet's darts odds

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