World Matchplay 2019 Preview 9.00 pm – Saturday, July 20th at 9.00 pm
Gary Anderson is the reigning champion in Blackpool at the World Matchplay. It has been a little bit of a start/stop year for him though because of his back troubles. But some recent performances will have instilled some belief that he can make a run at a title defence. That defence at the Winter Gardens will start against Danny Noppert on Saturday.
Gary Anderson v Danny Noppert Odds*
Gary Anderon 3/10
Danny Noppert 5/2
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 16th, 2019 at 9:35 pm)
Will Anderson survive the first test in title defence?
The Flying Scotsman famously pulled out of this year’s Premier League action pretty much on the eve of the start of the season. That’s because some old back troubles came back to bother him. Following his semi-final exit in early January, he didn’t play again until early March at the UK Open. He lost his first match back. The odds table into Player Championship events did not yield anything for him.
But with a month off before the World Cup, he came roaring back to lift the title with teammate Peter Wright. Anderson then battled to a quarter-final place at the US Darts Masters and made the last sixteen at the German Darts Masters. So there’s been some encouraging stuff from him. In ten previous attempts at the World Matchplay, he has only been past the second round three times. Those three occasions turned up two semi-final exits and a title.
Head to head
Anderson and Noppert have met twice before in their careers. The head to head from those meetings stands at one win each.
Can Noppert spring a surprise on the champion?
On the surface of things, Noppert doesn’t look to be a major threat in this tournament. He jumped over the BDO last year and this will be his first crack at the World Matchplay. Noppert does look like one of those players with time on his side to push for bigger things. But can he pull something very special out of the bag right now? He has been knocking around without any notable degree of success this year, mostly in the Players Championship events where he has taken a couple of quarter-finals.
The PDC is taking a bit more time to adjust too than the BDO. But he did have some success last year. He took a Players Championship title last year, made his debut at the Europan Championships and World Grand Prix. But his big moment came when he made a run to the semifinals of the Players Championship Finals in November. That’s the kind of form that he needs to tap into. If he spots any weaknesses in Anderson’s fitness, he has to drive home any kind of advantage.
Predictions
A tricky game this could be for Anderson if he’s not 100%. The Flying Scotsman has to take things to step by step. He should be winning this game and recent results will have lifted his spirits. Nopport is at 8/11 for a +3.5 handicap to at least keep this relatively close* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 16th, 2019 at 9:35 pm).
