The last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts draws to a close on Thursday evening when the top half of the draw play their second round matches in Wolverhampton. By the end of the night we will know the eight men heading into the weekend to have a shot at the big prize.
Unlike on Wednesday evening, we have a mix of PDC players and BDO competitors although it has to be said the BDO men look right up against it on what should be another decent night of arrers after the highs of a nine dart finish on Wednesday.
Jonny Clayton vs Krzysztof Ratajski
The opening match of the evening could very well turn out to be the closest one of the night as the Welsh player Jonny Clayton takes on one of the form men heading into the tournament in Krzysztof Ratajski for a place in the quarter final.
If you take the match against Michael van Gerwen out of the equation, Clayton hasn’t looked all that this week whereas his opponent here has got better with every performance. What I like about Ratajski this week is that in a match he had to win to progress on Tuesday night he showed no nerves and produced his best outing of the competition so far. That is the sign of a man in form and who has plenty of confidence.
It has been a while since Clayton has looked good on TV whereas you get the feeling Ratajski is running into form nicely. He isn’t going to blow players away with 180s like a van Gerwen but he is relentlessly solid and does little wrong. That can see him to a win by more than the odd leg.
James Wade vs Michael Unterbuchner
The second match of the night sees the first PDC against BDO clash taking place as the man of the moment James Wade goes up against the Lakeside semi-finalist Michael Unterbuchner for a quarter final spot.
Wade looks in arguably the form of his life right now and will be expected to breeze through this match but the German player has a little bit about him and I wouldn’t be massively surprised if he hangs tough in this one and gets closer than he is expected to. I expect Wade’s experience to see him through but nothing really stands out in terms of a bet.
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Gary Anderson vs Wesley Harms
The second match between a PDC player and a BDO one formulates the third match of the evening as Gary Anderson continues his quest to finally win this title for the first time when he takes on Wesley Harms.
Anderson is an emphatic favourite to come through this match and that is exactly how I see it playing out but he is being asked to cover a sizeable handicap and while I think he will do that there isn’t a huge amount of leeway for missed doubles or anything like that so I’m not massively interested in betting on this one either.
Michael Smith vs Michael van Gerwen
The final match of the night is a repeat of the Premier League final as Michael van Gerwen takes on Michael Smith in a match which is likely to yield a semi-finalist with whoever wins here a huge favourite to come through a quarter final too.
Including that final at the o2, these two have met on the stage six times in 2018 and while Smith won in Shanghai he has been thumped in the other five. In those five wins MVG has won by five, six, seven, seven and five legs so when he plays well even a heavy scorer like Smith can’t get near him. Knowing what a threat he is it isn’t very often that van Gerwen doesn’t play well against Smith either.
Van Gerwen is being asked to cover 3.5 legs in this match and based on the evidence of the year so far if he wins the contest he is likely to pull away the longer it goes on so I’m happy to be on the Dutchman on that handicap.
Tips
Back K.Ratajski (-1.5 legs) to beat J.Clayton for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back M.van Gerwen (-3.5 legs) to beat M.Smith for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with 888sport
Back him here:
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