The last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts concludes in Wolverhampton on Thursday evening as the last four spots in the quarter finals will be filled on what should be another epic night of darts in the popular competition.
We saw the likes of Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright progress to the last eight on Wednesday evening and all eyes will be on the defending champion Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson on Thursday to see if they can join them.
James Wade vs Adrian Lewis
Two old rivals battle it out in the opening match of the night when Group B winner James Wade takes on Group A runner up Adrian Lewis in a clash of the ages where the man to progress could end up going up against Michael van Gerwen.
We’ve seen typical James Wade this week. Solid, consistent and there to take the chances that he is given but Adrian Lewis has been very up and down which he probably wouldn’t want to be. I would imagine he’ll free up now he is out of the group and the format gets a bit longer but I sense Lewis needs to front run here as I’m not convinced he is confident enough to chase. There are so many ways this one can go but that’s pretty much reflected in most of the odds so I’m happy to watch and leave this one to be.
Gerwyn Price vs Darren Webster
The second match of the evening sees the defending champion Gerwyn Price taking on the snappy Darren Webster who rarely gives anything away to anyone, so this could be the sleeper for the best match of the night.
They have met on six previous occasions and they are 3-3 so far and nearly every one of those matches have been tight. Price was pretty ordinary for much of the group stage but I sense that was very much format related. Webster looked back into some decent form, beating Gary Anderson last time out which should give him a lot of confidence. Given matches between these two are generally tight I’m willing to take the over 15.5 legs with 10-6 or closer either way enough to get the job done for us.
Bet on the Grand Slam of Darts with Boylesports to get double winnings as a free bet on ALL MARKETS if the final checkout is 100+! All customers! Click on the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware
Michael van Gerwen vs Ian White
The top two players from the European Tour this season meet in the third match of the night when Michael van Gerwen goes up against Ian White for a place in the quarter finals where you would expect their games to thrive over the truly long format.
In saying that, there hasn’t been a lot wrong with van Gerwen thus far in this tournament and he is a rightful warm favourite to win this match. White has been hit and miss so far and annoyingly for those of us who watch him on the floor and in the European events, is his DNA at this level. He is going to need a career best to win this you would think. I expect van Gerwen to win this and I think he’ll average more than 101.5 which is going to be my bet here. He just averaged 111.38 against Ross Smith and 104.53 before that against Adrian Lewis. This looks too low to me.
Gary Anderson vs Robert Thornton
The final match of the last 16 is the all-Scottish affair as the resurgent Robert Thornton takes on a Gary Anderson who is looking to find his form ahead of the World Championship while trying to progress deeper here.
We have seen better signs from Anderson but his defeat to Darren Webster in the last group game highlights that he is not fully there just yet while Thornton looks to be near the sort of form that had him winning big titles and with nothing to lose I fancy he could be quite dangerous here. This should be a great contest because they both play at a similar pace and both have weaknesses in their game at the minute. I sense it could be tighter than the bookmakers think and so I’m happy to take Thornton with the 3.5 leg start he is getting.
Tips
Back G.Price vs D.Webster – Over 15.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Sky Bet
Back M.van Gerwen’s 3 dart average – Over 101.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
WON – Back R.Thornton (+3.5 legs) to beat G.Anderson for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
