Michael van Gerwen 13/8 FAV to win the World Matchplay Darts 2020

MVG the one to beat as PDC Darts action returns with the World Matchplay?

Michael van Gerwen / Netherlands ©imago images / Action Plus 12.03.2020

World Matchplay Darts odds fall into focus as top professional darts returns on the weekend with the 2020 World Matchplay Darts event.

This is the 27th staging of the event and under the current world climate, it is being held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

So it has been moved from its usual home of the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.

The dates for the 2020 World Matchplay are 18th July – 26th July.

Cross out for title defence

Rob Cross is the defending World Matchplay champion after beating Michael Smith 18-13 in last year’s Final.

That was the first World Matchplay title for Cross and he also became just the fourth player in history to win both the World Championship and the World Matchplay.

Rob Cross is currently out at 20/1 quote to defend his title* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

2020 World Matchplay Darts Odds

Michael Van Gerwen 13/8
Gerwyn Price 13/2
Peter Wright 11/2
Nathan Aspinall 10/1
Gary Anderson 12/1
Michael Smith 20/1
Rob Cross 20/1
Glen Durrant 25/1
Dave Chisnall 33/1
Daryl Gurney 40/1
Ian White 40/1
James Wade 40/1
Krzysztof Ratajski 40/1
Mensur Suljovic 50/1
Gabriel Clemens 66/1
80/1 bar
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020)

Tournament Format

Matches at the World Matchplay have to be won by two clear legs.

There will be a maximum of an extra six legs that can be played to try and settle a match if needed.

If all of those extra six legs get used up then it will be a tie-break situation.

The top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit are the players who get the seeded positions at the event.

The rest of the competition is made up from the top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit.

In the first round of the World Matchplay Darts 2020, a seeded player will be taking on an unseeded player.

Darts betting at Bet365

To Win Quarter 1 World Matchplay Darts Odds

Michael van Gerwen 4/9
Gary Anderson 7/2
James Wade 8/1
Ryan Joyce 22/1
Simon Whitlock 25/1
Brendan Dolan 50/1
Keegan Brown 66/1
Justin Pipe 66/1
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020)

There is a very interesting set up in Quarter 1 because there are some heavyweights in there.

Michael van Gerwen is the 4/9 favourite to win the first section of the draw* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

But also knocking around there is Gary Anderson and James Wade.

The draw is all-important here because in the second round it would be Gary Anderson vs James Wade if they both win their respective opening games.

So the perceived outcome then would be the winner of that match would meet Michael van Gerwen then in the quarter-finals.

To Win Quarter 2 World Matchplay Darts Odds

Michael Smith 3/1
Rob Cross 3/1
Krzysztof Ratajski 9/2
Mensur Suljovic 6/1
Gabriel Clemens 8/1
Jonny Clayton 8/1
Jamie Hughes 12/1
Jermaine Wattimena 25/1
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020)

The two big players in the second quarter of the World Matchplay Darts 2020 tournament are Michael Smith and Rob Cross.

They are joint 3/1 favourites to win the second quarter* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020) in World Matchplay Darts odds.

There would be a quarter-final clash on the cards for those two.

It would be a rematch of last year’s final in fact, which Cross won 18-13. That could be something to look forward to.

The defending champion Rob Cross opens against Gabriel Clemens.

Cross could have a tricky match in the second round if he were to get through, as he could line up against Kryzsystof Ratajkowski.

Smith opens against Jonny Clayton.

Our betting prediction:
Glen Durrant e/w
25/1

Bet at Bet365

(odds taken 2000 GMT, Wednesday 8 January)

 

To Win Quarter 3 World Matchplay Darts Odds

Peter Wright 6/4
Dave Chisnall 9/2
Daryl Gurney 9/2
Glen Durrant 9/2
Jose de Sousa 15/1
Jeffrey de Zwaan 18/1
Vincent van der Voort 50/1
Ricky Evans 50/1
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020)

The third quarter should be an absolute cracker with some major players squished in there.

Reigning World Champion Peter Wright is in there and he is the 6/4 favourite to come through this section* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

But there’s no easy path there ahead.

Wright opens against Jose de Sousa in the first round, but could then crash into Glen Durrant in the second round. That would be a great battle for a quarter final place.

With dangerous floaters Daryl Gurney and Dave Chisnall in the mix as well, this should be a really competitive section of the World Matchplay darts section.

The betting perspective in this one is tight in World Matchplay darts odds.

To Win Quarter 4 World Matchplay Darts Odds

Gerwyn Price 6/4
Nathan Aspinall 2/1
Ian White 6/1
Joe Cullen 14/1
Dimitri van den Bergh 14/1
Adrian Lewis 16/1
Danny Noppert 16/1
Steve Beaten 28/1
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020)

In the fourth quarter it is Welshman Gerwyn Price who is the favourite to come through.

Prince kicks off his campaign against Danny Noppert and that could then set up a second-round clash against former World Champion Adrian Lewis.

Nathan Aspinall is going to be a big threat in this entire tournament potentially, and he will be expected to come through his opening match against Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Ian White looks the most likely in this second to be the surprise package.

Darts betting at Bet365

Michael van Gerwen

Phil Taylor dominated this competition, winning it sixteen times. But now for darts betting since the legend that Taylor is retired, it is generally about Michael Van Gerwen.

The Dutchman has won the World Matchplay twice, in back to back years in 2015 and 2016.

But he hasn’t been back to even the final since then and was stopped in the second round of last year’s event in an epic duel with Glen Durrant.

2020 hasn’t quite seen the usual highs produced by MVG however, including losing the World Championship final to Peter Wright.

At the Masters, his five-year reign as champion was ended in the very first round in a massive shock upset against Jonny Clayton.

Michael van Gerwen had been on a 20 match winning streak to the Marshall Arena before that match against Clayton.

But still, the Dutchman will arguably be the one to beat at 13/8* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

Peter Wright

“Snakebite” won both the World Championship and the Masters this year. In this year of interrupted action, he has been one of the stand-out players.

Wright has not fallen short of the quarter-finals in any of his last six World Matchplay tournament appearances.

It is difficult to know of course what kind of form anyone is going to be in, but Wright is a reasonable 11/2 option* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

Gerwyn Price

The other big hitter going into the top three of the World Matchplay Darts odds is Gerwyn Price at 13/2* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

There has been a lot of consistency from Price in the ranking tournaments since the middle of last season.

But despite reaching four of the last six major televised event finals, he has collected just one title.

Price has a terrible record at the World Matchplay too, losing the first round in each of his last three appearances.

Nathan Aspinall

Nathan Aspinall made his World Matchplay debut last year and was dumped out in the first round.

But “The Asp” was bang in form at the start of this year taking a semi-final berth at the World Championship and then at the Masters.

He is becoming an increasing threat in the game and could be one to keep on side at 10/1 in World Matchplay Darts odds* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

Gary Anderson

The Flying Scotsman really hasn’t been at his best since 2018 and that’s because of personal reasons and injuries.

He is a former World Matchplay winner however collecting the title in 2018, easily the best year of his career.

He has two semi-final places at the event besides that. A semi-final at the Masters this year would have given him renewed hope that his best isn’t far away.

Glen Durrant

Glen Durrant made his World Matchplay debut a year ago and made quite the splash.

Duzza made it all the way to the semi-finals, taking down Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade along the way.

He was taken out in that final four stages by Michael Smith.

Durrant is out at 25/1 in the outright but may have each-way appeal for punters* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).

Darts betting at Bet365

World Matchplay Darts Odds Predictions

So we haven’t seen any tournament action on the PDC since the Masters. There were six rounds of the Premier League Darts after that, but that is all that has been seen.

So it’s hard to gauge where players are at and what they could potentially deliver in Milton Keynes

The standout performers of the Premier League season were Glen Durrant and Michael van Gerwen with Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright putting in decent shifts.

We feel there is little value in backing MVG outright and Wright doesn’t totally convince us either in the World Matchplay format.

The challenges of Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall certainly warrant some value here.

They are both capable of putting together deep runs. Smith did it last year and Aspinall should find the going smooth enough on his second attempt as he is in the easiest quarter of the draw.

Aspinall is a good 10/1 odds option for the outright* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020) and is our pick for World Matchplay 2020 betting.

As big as an each-way punt, there is an appeal in Glen Durrant.

Duzza showed twelve months ago just what he is capable of, and hanging out there at a big 25/1 punt, that’s each way of value all over that* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 23:47 GMT on Thursday, 16th July 2020).