Darts World Matchplay tips: Van Gerwen breezes through, Smith and Cross pound the treble

The PDC World Matchplay continues on Friday night as we learn the two remaining semi-finalists.

Our focus is on exploiting the average and 180 markets as Michael van Gerwen faces Andrew Gilding and Michael Smith headlines with Rob Cross.

 

Friday’s World Matchplay tips

Michael van Gerwen -5.5 leg handicap

Smith vs Cross: Over 16.5 180s

Michael Smith: Most 180s

 

Michael van Gerwen vs Andrew Gilding tips

Michael van Gerwen takes on Andrew Gilding in the quarter-finals of the Matchplay on Friday night, with seemingly little chance of an upset taking place.

We bet against Gilding in his Round of 16 matchup and paid the price, as Goldfinger sealed his first-ever appearance at this stage of the competition.

The pair have crossed paths a handful of times in the past year, most notably when Gilding beat MVG 11-10 in a classic encounter at the UK Open.

Stretching back to their tour meetings in 2015, Gilding has shown the composure needed to keep meetings close, with neither player winning by a margin of three or more legs.

The Green Machine has done well to brush aside Luke Littler and Joe Cullen without too much drama, but there were moments in his match against the Rockstar where he risked leaving the door open.

Van Gerwen has produced averages of 101.93 and 95.49, compared to 94 & 98 for Gilding. The latter of those two could be enough to compete, but it’ll require the Dutchman to drop his game.

Either way, the bookmakers have set the line on Gilding’s average at 93.5. Even over a longer format, that feels like a number he can eclipse.

Considering what happened the last time these two met on the big stage, coupled with Michael’s below-par average in his last outing, we expect him to produce a strong start, a good average and a comfortable win.

 

Michael Smith vs Rob Cross tips

Michael Smith has seen off tough competition in the form of in-form Gary Anderson and fancied outsider Chris Dobey to reach this stage of the competition.

Meanwhile, Rob Cross was given an almighty scare when beating Gian van Veen 13-2 to set up a meeting with Ryan Searle, who he thrashed 11-6 while producing a 107 average.

Voltage is the bookmaker’s favourite to progress again on Friday, but Bully Boy is a dangerous prospect when cast in the role of underdog, and we aren’t keen to bet against him.

Smith produced an average of 93.91 in his last match, which was marginally worse than Dobey. Both had sticky patches as they struggled to produce their best.

On the other hand, Anderon’s average of 99 forced him to produce better in the first round, and he duly obliged, averaging 102.08 across 15 legs. We would expect Cross to force him to play well here, and vice versa.

Part of the reason is Cross’ ability to batter the treble. He’s scored well so far, and he’s capable of having a ding dong of a battle with Smith in the 180 stakes.

The underdog is favoured to win the maximum battle, which we think he will, while the total is set at over/under 16.5 180s, which is a number these two can eclipse.

If we combine their 180s per leg average this tournament, a 16-10 scoreline gets us to 15 maximums. But Smith is yet to get going, scoring four per match, and will produce much better here. There’s also the possibility both players win 11 or more legs.