Two of the four quarterfinal matchups for the World Match play Darts have been finalised for play on Friday night and bettors will get two cracking games to bet on. The first game will be played between the resurgent Adrian Lewis, who has been recovering from major back surgery, and Alan Norris who caused a massive upset when thrashing David Chisnall in his second- round matchup.
That’s just the entrée to what will be an exciting contest between 16-time world champion Phil “The Power” Taylor and the World Champion Michael van Gerwen.
Due to Taylor’s slide down the rankings, the two champions will meet earlier than expected on Friday night and bookmakers are giving Taylor little chance of causing the upset over The Green Machine.
Despite being a long outsider to win the game, Taylor has attracted some solid support in the 2017 World Match play tournament winner markets and many believe the winner of this match could take out the title.
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Adrian Lewis vs. Alan Norris form and game tip:
It’s easy to look at the form of Adrian Lewis earlier this year and write off the world No. 4, but he had a legitimate excuse and it appears as though he has put that behind him.
Lewis went in for surgery to repair a torn back muscle after losing three consecutive games to the likes of Mensur Suljovic and Vincert Van der Voort – two players Lewis wouldn’t usually lose to.
Lewis now needs to sit in behind games to rest his back, but that hasn’t affected his ability to consistently hit the triple 20. Lewis finished with over a ton average against Robert Cross who pushed Lewis to the brink in many of the legs.
Lewis (2/5 at Ladbrokes.com) is expected to beat Alan Norris (2/1), but Norris carries a lot of momentum into this game and bettors should be weary of the Englishman.
Norris scored a thrilling 14-12 victory over David Chisnall and he should be carrying plenty of confidence following that result.
His win against Kim Huybrechts (10-6) was a professional outing considering the in-and-out form he had been on the world tour.
We think Lewis will continue to throw well and ultimately defeat Norris. The 2/5 is a touch short, but it’s a good enough price to include in your dart bets.
Phil Taylor vs. Michael van Gerwen form and game tip:
Can anyone on the planet stop Michael van Gerwen? The answer is yes and that man is Phil Taylor.
Van Gerwen has been dominant over the past couple of years, winning tournaments on a regular basis and taking out the major titles, but Phil Taylor should never be underrated in his final year as a professional.
Taylor has fared well against Van Gerwen in recent history, winning three of their past five games against each other. There’s no doubting that these two players are heading in opposite directions, but Taylor has a mental edge over the younger champion and his odds are appealing on Friday night.
Van Gerwen is the 1/6 favorite at Ladbrokes.com with Taylor the outsider at 4/1, which is where the value resides.
Taylor dispatched Robert van Barneveld 11-3 in his second-round match to progress to the quarterfinals and that was one of the most impressive performances of the tournament.
Michael van Gerwen, on the other hand, struggled to take advantage of the poor throwing from Australian Simon Whitlock in the early stages, but eventually pulled out an 11-3 victory of his own.
The Dutch prodigy wouldn’t have been overly joyful about his performance and he won’t get away with the same mistakes against Taylor.
This could be one for the ages and we’re picking an upset in Phil Taylor’s favor.