The second round of the Grand Slam of Darts concludes on Thursday night when the final four matches of the last 16 is played out inside the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Spots in the quarter finals are up for grabs on what looks to be an exciting evening.
The cast list is about as good as it gets for this stage of a major tournament with Michael van Gerwen, Daryl Gurney, Phil Taylor and Raymond Barneveld all in action in the four matches.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Daryl Gurney vs James Wade
The evening begins with Daryl Gurney meeting James Wade in what would look a cracking encounter if both are at their best. Whether they are both at their best remains to be seen however.
Gurney was untested in the group stage but averaged well into the 90s in all three matches and you suspect there was more to come from him. It was all a struggle for Wade early on in the group but he rallied to beat Phil Taylor in his final match to book his spot in this one.
Ultimately for my money Wade is not scoring heavily enough and he has shown to be missing a lot more doubles than he has done in the past. Taylor never punished him on Tuesday but he was already through by then. Gurney will and I expect the Northern Irishman to pull away to victory here.
Phil Taylor vs Darren Webster
The second match of the night could be a historic one as it could be the last time we see Phil Taylor on this stage. He takes on a Darren Webster who bashed him up 5-0 in the group stage here last year. It should be said that Taylor was already through on that occasion too however.
Taylor was nothing like his best in the group stage of the tournament. He lost one match and should have lost another and he will need to hope the extended format brings about his best darts. Webster had to survive a nine dart shootout to make it this far but he has nothing to lose from here on in.
We’ve seen Webster be dangerous in the past and he could well be here too although if Taylor is on it he should come through safely enough. The odds and handicap lines and things are all about right though so this is an easy one to sit out.
[the_ad id=”16648″]
Michael van Gerwen vs Steve Lennon
We have a real clash in the third match of the night when the defending champion and winner of everything going Michael van Gerwen takes on a man at the start of his career who is very much the surprise package of the competition in Steve Lennon.
Who knows how this one will go other than it would be something of a major upset were van Gerwen not to win it. How many legs Lennon will get may depend on how seriously the Dutchman takes this when he is ahead. Either way we would be guessing and that does not make betting a tempting offer.
Raymond Barneveld vs Rob Cross
The pick of the matches in the second round of the tournament has been left until last as seasoned legend Raymond Barneveld takes on the rookie of the year in Rob Cross for a spot potentially against MVG in the quarter final.
This should be a cracking contest if Barneveld fancies the job. We know he can see off anyone on this stage but he will have to be at his absolute best to get past Cross. If anything Cross is getting better each time we see him on the big stage which is a credit to him and there is absolutely no weakness in his game.
Barneveld needs to keep with Cross in the early stages of this one as if Cross gets in front he’ll power on while the Dutchman will get down on himself and fall further behind. That is the situation I expect to see though so I’m with Cross here.
Thursday Special
Many of the bookmakers have priced up a series of specials markets for the night and one interests me. It is the one for the total 180s on the night where a 34.5 line could be on the high side.
I’m not convinced we are going to see many close matches over the course of the evening and even if we do a couple of the matches contain players who do not hit many 180s. James Wade, Phil Taylor and Darren Webster are all among the lower scorers of them while the likes of Rob Cross can be hit or miss. If the van Gerwen match doesn’t catch fire I think this line is far too high so I’ll take the under.
Tips
WON – Back D.Gurney (-2.5 legs) to beat J.Wade for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Cross (-1.5 legs) to beat R.Barneveld for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
WON – Back Under 34.5 180s on the night for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
