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Grand Slam of Darts: Wednesday night predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

By Carl Fletcher

16:40 · THU November 18, 2021

The second round of the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts begins on Wednesday night so check out Carl Fletcher's match-by-match predictions, best bets and an acca.

The eight players in who came through Groups A-D are in action tonight, including Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, James Wade and Rob Cross.

Darts betting tips: Grand Slam of Darts day five

0.5pt on either Rob Cross or Ryan Joyce to checkout 121 at 7/2 (Sky Bet)

1pt Both James Wade and Rowby-John Rodriguez to hit 4+ 180’s at 2/1 (Sky Bet)

2pts Gerwyn Price to win the match, score over 3.5 180’s and checkout over 99.5 at 11/10 (Sky Bet)

2pts Jonny Clayton to win the match, score over 3.5 180’s and checkout over 97.5 at 11/10 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Wednesday November 16: Second round

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Format: Best of 19 legs

SL Acca: Click here to back Wade, Cross, Clayton (-3.5 legs) & Price (-3.5 legs) at 3/11 with Sky Bet

Ryan Joyce (11/5) vs Rob Cross (4/11)

Head to Head (TV): 2-3 (0-0)
2021 Head to Head (TV): 0-1 (0-0)
2021 Titles (TV): 0-2 (0-1)
Three-Dart Average (2021): 92.86 – 96.44
180’s per leg (2021): 0.19 – 0.23
Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 43.33% - 38.66%
100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 13.18% - 10.81%

These two met recently at Players Championship 28, in their first encounter since July of 2019 and it was Rob Cross who came on top in a last leg decider 6-5 against the throw.

‘Voltage’ has had a resurgent second part of 2021 winning two events of late including the European Championships where he defeated none other than MVG in the final. He did however survive a bit of a scare in his latest game where he suffered a 5-2 defeat to James Wade. He went from looking assured of qualification pre-match to looking potentially on the ropes if the scoreline had gone against him.

Cross has won 34 of his last 41 matches in all competitions and he’s registered seventeen 100+ averages in his last thirty-six matches, a truly impressive string of performances and one that means he’s a contender in all the events in the coming weeks and months.

He won his first nine legs of the event this year and his tournament average of 98.08 is excellent, his doubles percentage of 41.38% is superb and six 180’s at 0.30 per leg is very good. There’s not too much wrong with his game at all at present.

Ryan Joyce has very similar stats with a tournament average of 97.35, a doubles percentage of 43.33% and has also notched up six 180’s, at 0.26 per leg. On that basis there’s not much to choose between the two.

Joyce was the first player through to the knockout stages after winning his opening two games but suffered a 5-3 defeat in his final game to his good friend Chris Dobey, producing his lowest average of the three games he’s played so far at 89.03.

Prior to this he looked excellent. He opened the event against Stephen Bunting, winning 5-4 and holding his throw throughout despite ‘The Bullet’ hitting a 106.70 average against him.

He then looked superb himself averaging 108.11 to destroy Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-1. He was ‘Relentless’ throughout living up to his nickname.

He’ll need to produce a much better display than his most recent performance to come out on top against an in form opponent. I expect Cross to edge this one but suspect it may be nip and tuck throughout. When they met recently both players had a checkout of 100+ and that could be a feature of this match

Predicted Scoreline: Ryan Joyce 8-10 Rob Cross

James Wade (4/9) vs Rowby-John Rodriguez (7/4)

Head to Head (TV): 6-0 (0-0)
2021 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
2021 TV Titles (TV): 1-0 (1-0)
Three-Dart Average (2021): 95.89 – 98.93* (*Tournament Stats)
180’s per leg (2021): 0.20 – 0.35*
Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 46.60% - 40.74%
100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 13.41% - 18.18%

James Wade couldn’t have been more impressive in his last match against Rob Cross. He produced his highest TV average of 111.71 and was just ruthless from start to finish to win 5-2. By the same token, so was Rowby-John Rodriguez with a 104.82 average and a 5-1 victory over Stephen Bunting in a game that he lost the opening leg.

Both players lost a game in the group stages. ‘The Machine’ kicked off his Grand Slam campaign with a defeat to Jim Williams 5-4 averaging 90.02 but his performances have improved match by match.

Rowby-John on the other hand started with a very good win, 5-3 over Chris Dobey before succumbing to Ryan Joyce. Despite averaging 101.08 himself he was no match for ‘Relentless’ in a 5-1 reversal who averaged 108.11. Group D always had the look of a tight group and it probably produced one the best standards overall if you take a look back at the matches that occurred.

‘The Machine’ seems to have turned the corner of late. After a bit of a barren spell which saw him lose seven matches out of eight played the end of October and beginning of November. He had a decent run at Players Championship 30 and has now won six of his last eight.

He’s averaging 97.48 for the tournament, his doubling for the week has been very good at 46.67% and his 180 per leg ratio of 0.26 is up on his seasonal data. One surprise statistic however is that despite him typically being excellent on Double 10 his success rate on that Double in the groups was just 25%, nine out of twelve. He’ll be wanting to pick that up from here on in.

Rowby-John is averaging slightly higher at 98.93 and his 180 per leg ratio of 0.35 is also up on that of Wade. As you would expect his doubles percentage isn’t as high at 40.74% - and most players don’t match James in this respect – but it is still very good.

Rodriguez participated in 29 of the 30 Players Championship events and pretty much like this week was very consistent. In one short spell he reached the Last 32 or better in seven of nine events.

This isn’t as straight forward to call as the odds may suggest but I do expect Wade to come out on top, particularly if finding his range on Double 10. The current UK Open Champion and last year’s Runner-Up just knows how to get matches won and although I’m expecting him to be pushed here, I can see his vast experience of these longer matches giving him the edge.

Predicted Scoreline: James Wade 10-7 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Gerwyn Price (1/10) vs Bradley Brooks (6/1)

Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
2021 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
2021 Titles (TV): 4-0 (0-0)
Three-Dart Average (2021): 99.31 – 88.48
180’s per leg (2021): 0.29 – 0.20
Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 42.73% - 35.94%
100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 11.42% - 12.66%

This is a match between the reigning World Champion and the reigning World Youth Champion.

The pair have met once before but only in the Home Tour during the first lockdown in 2020. On that occasion it was ‘The Iceman’ who came out on top 5-3 but this meeting is completely different. The knockout stages also bring about the longer format and the last sixteen stage sees matches become a race to ten.

The current World Number One came through Group A as group winner with two victories but this was somewhat soured by a last group game defeat to the already eliminated Martin Schindler 5-4. This was only the second occasion in 2021 that Price had lost a last leg decider on his own throw, the other being at the start of this year’s campaign to Aaron Beeney.

After surviving a scare against another youngster Nathan Rafferty in his opening match, he walloped Krzystzof Ratajski in impressive style in his second match 5-0. This latest match however may just be the kick up the backside the Welshman needs as he looked to be coasting to victory until his German opponent produced an excellent late rally having trailed 3-1.

Gerwyn Price didn’t play too badly in the groups and has this knack of making a 95-99 average look ordinary. There’s certainly many more gears he can move through for sure. His tournament average is 97.04, his doubles percentage in his opening three games has been 36.84% and he’s hit just three 180’s. Having said that, from the players in the top half, no player has registered more scores of 91+ in the group stage.

His opponent, Bradley Brooks is a player on the up and looked very good in the group stages. The World Youth Champion dismantled Mervyn King 5-1 in his opener which put him in a strong position to advance. His solitary defeat came in his second match to Jonny Clayton 5-3, there’s no disgrace in that at all, particularly this year. He secured his second victory in a bit more of a nervy affair Rusty-Jake Rodriguez but all that mattered was the win and he showed the resolve to close that game out.

Looking at his stats from his groups, his tournament average is 90.45, his doubles percentage 34.21% and a magnificent seven 180’s – an excellent 0.32 per leg. He’ll probably need his scoring boots here to have any chance against the World Number One.

‘Bam Bam’ comes into this in better form of late. He’s won six of his last ten matches and in this period he notched his first ton plus average of the year. This has partly been aided by better starts in matches. He’s actually had an early lead after 5 legs in five of his last seven games after trailing in eighteen of his previous twenty four matches at that same stage.

Despite all this I expect the ‘Iceman’ to be too strong overall in this longer match. In the World Championship last December Brooks got off to an explosive start versus Dirk Van Duijvenbode but he had no answer to Dirk’s power scoring when he got in full flow later on. I expect this could be a similar case here where Price grinds out victory from the mid-point.

Predicted Scoreline: Gerwyn Price 10-6 Bradley Brooks

Jonny Clayton (1/10) vs Nathan Rafferty (6/1)

Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
2021 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
2021 Titles (TV): 6-0 (4-0)
Three-Dart Average (2021): 98.73 – 90.18* (*Tournament Stats)
180’s per leg (2021): 0.27 – 0.08*
Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 43.51% - 41.18%*
100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 13.16% - 7.14%*

There’s a lot to like about how Nathan Rafferty has gone about his business. He pushed World Number One and World Champion Gerwyn Price all the way in his opener, ultimately losing 5-4.

He then backed that performance up with a 5-2 victory over Martin Schindler in match number two. His average of 89.32 wasn’t anything to shout home about but it was a victory nonetheless.

He then concluded the group by claiming a shock victory over Krzysztof Ratajski in the final group game to advance. Whilst he was fortunate as ‘The Polish Eagle’ missed six match darts, when Rafferty toed the oche he took his chance and that’s all you need to.

In fact his doubles percentage of 41.18% is one component of his game that has held him in good stead this week as he’s won 14 of the 17 legs in which he’s had darts at the double.

His tournament average of 90.18 leaves him with a bit to find as does his 0.16 per leg ratio of scores of 171+ but you never know in darts, the occasion and the player you’re facing can bring out the best in you.

Jonny Clayton needs no introduction and is having the darting year of his life. He’s the only player in the top half with a perfect record with three wins from three after defeating Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Bradley Brooks and Mervyn King, the latter of which was a particularly good encounter.

His tournament average is 101.41 and his lowest average we’ve seen from him this week has been 99.40. Several other statistics from this week are superb too. His doubles percentage is 48.39%, his 180 per leg ratio is 0.36 having hit nine in twenty five legs, he’s yet to miss a dart at Double 20 from three attempts and he just tidies up legs with the minimum of fuss, checking out of 10 of his 11 attempts at checkouts of 60 or below.

We’ve seen a bit of a gulf in standard between these two this week and I don’t envisage anything different occurring on stage tonight. ‘The Ferret’ remains a real contender for this and anything else he enters this year as there’s no doubt he’s the Player of 2021 so far. He’ll be looking to improve on his recent record of twenty wins in twenty three matches since the start of the Grand Prix. I’m going for a comfortable win for him in a game that Rafferty will need to dig deep just to keep close tabs on his opponent.