Darts World Matchplay final tips: Humphries and Van Gerwen to produce 180s and high averages
- George Dempsey
- 21 July 2024
World number one Luke Humphries looks to add the World Matchplay to his list of titles when he faces Michael van Gerwen on Sunday night.
Luke Humphries takes on Michael van Gerwen in the final of the PDC World Matchplay on Sunday night and we’ve picked out our favourite tips.
World Matchplay final tips
Humphries: Average over 100.5
Van Gerwen: Average over 98.5
Over 20.5 180s scored
Luke Humphries vs Michael van Gerwen
Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen can serve up a thriller on Sunday night as they clash in the final of the World Matchplay at Winter Gardens.
The world number one made light work of James Wade in his semi-final, winning 17-10. Undoubtedly, he’s been on the easier side of the draw, but he’s still impressed.
His 108.74 average in round one would have troubled any player on either side of the draw, and he’s followed that performance up with three more averages in the region of 101 or better.
On the other side of the draw, MVG saw off Luke Littler, Joe Cullen, Andrew Gilding and Michael Smith. A tough crowd indeed, and Gilding, for whatever reason, has proven to be a tough nemesis over the years.
A common trend in both player's games is that they’ve been getting to the double first. Humphries has often outscored his opponents, while Van Gerwen has benefited from facing low averages.
The Green Machine hasn't produced an average of about the 100 mark since his opening-round match, so needless to say, he’ll need to step up his game here.
Another area for improvement in his game is the volume of missed doubles. There have been countless occasions where Michael, usually so clinical, has missed three darts at a double in a single trip.
That’s contributed to his tally of 78 missed doubles in 56 legs of darts. These issues could prove to be a damaging combination, but we have to assume that he’ll raise his game.
Even when missing four of five legs in a session to Smith on Saturday night, the Dutchman had darts to win each leg.
After scoring just five 180s in that semi-final, we expect an outburst this evening. Likewise, you can expect Humphries to pound the treble. Both men could reach double digits provided the leg count stretches into the 30s, with Humphries the likelier to surpass that, so the current total of 20.5 feels low.
