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World Matchplay darts: Night three predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

By Carl Fletcher

22:17 · MON July 18, 2022

The first round of the World Matchplay concludes in Blackpool on Monday night so here's our match-by-match preview and best bets.

The weather forecast suggest there’ll be a heatwave and our prediction is for a night of red hot darts action too. We have former World Matchplay winner Rob Cross in action but headlining the night is the ‘Iceman’ Gerwyn Price.

Here, we look at all four matches with seasonal statistics, predictions, best bets and an acca…

Darts betting tips: World Matchplay day three

1pt Rob Cross to win and Chris Dobey to hit the most 180’s at 15/8 (Sky Bet)

2pts Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler to have over 15.5 legs, highest checkout over 116.5 and over 7.5 total 180’s at 5/4 (Sky Bet)

2pts Dave Chisnall to win and hit the most 180’s at 10/11 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)

SL Acca: Cross to win, Schindler to hit most 180s & Chisnall (-2.5 legs) at 9/2 with Sky Bet

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Also Watch: World Matchplay tournament predictions

Former major winner and leading pundit Paul Nicholson joins Sporting Life darts expert Chris Hammer and show host Dom Newton to run through each quarter of the draw with statistics and facts to predict who will reach the semi-finals and then the eventual finalists and champion.

Predicting the 2022 World Matchplay - the second biggest major in darts!

World Matchplay: Monday July 18

Venue: Winter Gardens, Blackpool
TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 BST)
Format: Best of 19 legs. Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death

Rob Cross (8/15) v Chris Dobey (11/8)

Overall H2H: 5-4 (TV: 1-0)
2022: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
Seasonal Average
Cross: 96.89
Dobey: 94.82
180s per leg in 2022
Cross: 0.25
Dobey: 0.32
Checkout % in 2022 (Stage events only)
Cross: 35.75%
Dobey: 27.68%
100+ checkouts per leg won
Cross: 13.11%
Dobey: 9.56%
Match Treble % in all comps (Win, most 180s, highest checkout)
Cross: 21.65%
Dobey: 31.51%

The opening game of Monday night is a clash between 2019 Matchplay champion Rob Cross and ‘Hollywood’ Chris Dobey.

Last year Dobey fell at the first hurdle in this event 10-8 to Joe Cullen and once again starts as underdog against ‘Voltage’, the number 10 seed. A winner on tour last year Dobey hasn’t quite achieved that feat in 2022 to date but he was a Semi-Finalist recently at Players Championship event 17 where the impressive Scott Williams stopped him in his tracks.

Usually a regular hitter of 100+ averages the fact he’s only mustered three in his last forty games is probably a good indicator that he’s not quite in top form currently but his seasonal average of 94.82 is still very good. He’s an exceptional maximum hitter and his ratio of 0.32 per leg is outstanding. If he can get that part of his game going he could cause his higher ranked opponent problems.

Rob Cross suffered three first round exits in the set of four Players Championship tournaments this past weekend but that seems an outlier to his seasonal standard. On the Euro Tour he’s already a three time finalist this year along with a couple of Quarter Finals.

Despite his recent woes last weekend he also continues to play to a high standard. He’s notched up nine 100+ averages in his last nineteen games and his seasonal standard has him averaging 96.89.

The pair have met nine times, Cross leading 5-4 but Dobey has won three of their last four clashes. One good omen for Voltage however is that he defeated today’s opponent in the opening round of this event 10-3 in 2019 on his way to winning this trophy.

Score Prediction: 10-8

Back Cross to win and Dobey hit most 180s with Sky Bet

Seasonal stats for the players in quarter three of the World Matchplay draw

Jose De Sousa (4/6) v Gabriel Clemens (11/10)

Overall H2H: 5-1 (TV: 1-0)
2022: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
Seasonal Average
De Sousa: 94.35
Clemens: 92.82
180s per leg in 2022
De Sousa: 0.31
Clemens: 0.29
Checkout % in 2022 (Stage events only)
De Sousa: 32.54%
Clemens: 32.69%
100+ checkouts per leg won
De Sousa: 12.01%
Clemens: 9.95%
Match Treble % in all comps (Win, most 180s, highest checkout)
De Sousa: 33.33%
Clemens: 23.68%

2020 Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose De Sousa is really struggling to perform to the level we witnessed him do so in last year’s Premier League. His 180 per leg ratio during 2022 is just 0.31 per leg at the moment, for a large part of last year this was approaching 0.40 per leg. This really tells you where his game has fell away slightly.

Looking at his more recent form. In his last ten matches he’s notched up just sixteen 180’s in 88 legs of darts and last weekend he exited either in the first or second in the four Players Championship events and averaged just 88.55 across the four days. ‘The Special One’ isn’t living up his nickname right now.

Clemens in comparison comes into this in relatively good form. He reached the final of the opening day of the four Players Championship events last weekend albeit he was thumped 8-0 by Dirk Van Duijvenbode in the final and averaged 95.17 over the four days.

There’s no doubt that an in-form Jose De Sousa would start a much shorter price and he leads the head to head quite favourably by five wins to one including an emphatic first round victory 10-2 last year, having raced into a seven-nil lead.

You can’t see the same scenario occurring this year and if Clemens was a bit more reliable you’d heavily favour him to prevail. He isn’t though and the head to head record is a concern. Having said that De Sousa is in no sort of form so if Clemens can take his opportunities, you’d have to expect him to knock out the number seven seed.

Score Prediction: 7-10

Gerwyn Price (4/11) v Martin Schindler (2/1)

Overall H2H: 7-3 (TV: 2-1)
2022: 1-0 (TV: 1-0)
Seasonal Average
Price: 96.37
Schindler: 95.31
180s per leg in 2022
Price: 0.26
Schindler: 0.33
Checkout % in 2022 (Stage events only)
Price: 41.03%
Schindler: 40.68%
100+ checkouts per leg won
Price: 15.96%
Schindler: 10.54%
Match Treble % in all comps (Win, most 180s, highest checkout)
Price: 25.84%
Schindler: 32.94%

These pair met just a few weeks ago in the World Cup of Darts and Gerwyn Price dished out a 4-0 thumping to his German opponent with a mesmerising 117.88 average.

That was probably an outlier in recent performances for the Welshman however who in his last twenty matches has only registered one other 100+ average. The former World Number One and World Champion just isn’t firing on all cylinders.

Since losing in the final of the World Cup of Darts he’s exited at the first hurdle in both the Dutch Darts Masters and the European Darts Matchplay then two second round eliminations in the two Players Championship he participated in last weekend. His defeats came at the hands of Vincent Van Der Voort, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Cameron Menzies and Karel Sedlacek in these events respectively. His opponent here, Martin Schindler represents another sizeable danger here too.

Gerwyn Price's statistics ahead of the World Matchplay

Schindler has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence this year and his seasonal average of 95.31 isn’t far behind that of Price at 96.37. In terms of results they’ve been good too. In all competitions he’s played this year he’s reached three Quarter Finals, two Semi-Finals – including one last weekend - and one final, where he lost to Michael Van Gerwen 8-4.

‘The Wall’ is a big scorer generally, with a terrific 180 hitting ability; over the course of the year his 180 per leg ratio is 0.33 per leg compared to that of Price at 0.26.

Having already seen Jonny Clayton defeated by a young talented European arrowsmith, the Welsh darting hopes remain firmly pinned to that of Gerwyn Price. Unfortunately for them another potential shock could be on the cards here for ‘The Iceman’.

Score Prediction: 8-10

Back over 15.5 legs, checkout over 116.5 and over 7.5 180s with Sky Bet

Dave Chisnall (2/5) v Kim Huybrechts (7/4)

Overall H2H: 13-3 (TV: 5-0)
2022: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
Seasonal Average
Chisnall: 95.57
Huybrechts: 93.08
180s per leg in 2022
Chisnall: 0.32
Huybrechts: 0.19
Checkout % in 2022 (Stage events only)
Chisnall: 41.64%
Huybrechts: 42.24%
100+ checkouts per leg won
Chisnall: 9.55%
Huybrechts: 11.44%
Match Treble % in all comps (Win, most 180s, highest checkout)
Chisnall: 25.93%
Huybrechts: 21.35%

You might just look at the match odds in this game and think Dave Chisnall is plenty short enough to defeat the Belgian Kim Huybrechts but he comes into this in fantastic form, boasts a significant advantage in previous Head to Heads and Kim has a terrible record in the Matchplay.

Looking at ‘Chizzy’ first and he comes into this bang in form with 19 wins in his last 23 matches over the four day players championship series over the past weekend and just prior to this he banged in six consecutive 100+ averages.

His four defeats came at the hands of excellent players too in Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries, Jermaine Wattimena and Jonny Clayton with averages of 94+ in three of those defeats underlining that he’ll be a difficult man to beat this week, from a draw that he will feel gives him chance of putting together a decent run.

He also remains one of the biggest maximum hitters around with a per leg ratio of 0.32 during 2022. His scoring prowess always gives him opportunities. No wonder he’s won 72% of matches he’s played this year.

Huybrechts isn’t playing too badly either. A yearly average of 93.08 suggests that and his win percentage of 62% is decent but he may struggle to match the scoring power of his opponent here as his 180 per leg ratio is a lowly 0.19 per leg for 2022.

Looking at his record in events since the turn of the year, the World Cup of Darts aside where he reached the Quarter Final he’s only reached that stage or better just once, that was at Players Championship 17 in June where he eventually lost to Nathan Aspinall 7-4 in the Semi-Final after whitewashing Peter Wright – the defending champion here – 6-0 in the Quarters.

All things considered it appears ‘Chizzy’ will have too much for the Hurricane and I expect him to win with a little to spare, especially if Kim doesn’t take his opportunities.

Score Prediction: 10-6