Betfred World Matchplay darts tournament betting preview, free tips & TV details

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Iceman Gerwyn Price has shown he can handle the heat on the biggest stages and he has to fancy his chances of blazing a trail to Betfred World Matchplay glory in Blackpool this week.

The former rugby prop is always up for the scrap and he can keep his cool at a white-hot Winter Gardens to go in at odds of 20-1.

We all like to be beside the seaside in July for the PDC’s flagship summer major featuring 32 of the best players in the world and it’s a tournament that is guaranteed to provide thrills.

It’s also a competition which boasts an eye-catching market headed by Michael van Gerwen at a massive 7-4 with defending champion Gary Anderson at 9-1.

The reason those two are easy to back is partly because they are in the same (and toughest) half of the draw which also features massive threats James Wade, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant.

But Van Gerwen has probably never gone into a major with confidence quite as low as it is with a string of near-unbelievable defeats in events all over the world plus a headline-making run of 11 straight games without a single ton-plus average.

Anderson, by his own admission, is struggling for consistency as he recovers from a back injury and both men can be swerved.

Gezzy, the seventh seed, is in the bottom half and playing ever so well.

No matter what you make of his panto villain antics, Price is chucking superbly. He went quiet after breaking his major duck at November’s Grand Slam, but a UK Open semi-final, a string of other sound efforts, two floor wins, and a nine-darter are the stats of a man who heads for the Fylde feeling on top of the world.

He opens up against Stephen Bunting before playing the winner of Ian White and Joe Cullen. White is playing well but questions persist over his stage efforts and Price hammered him at Alexandra Palace when they last met in a major.

No one comes into the event in hotter touch that Peter Wright, winner of three events in a week, while UK Open and Premier League finalist Rob Cross has his fans, though he hasn’t actually won a title for 11 months. Cross and Wright are short enough.

A measure of just how good is the field is that Michael Smith, world finalist at the turn of the year, is a colossal 25-1, the same price as UK Open champ and recent US Masters winner Nathan Aspinall.

Van Gerwen can be taken on in the outright market and also in his quarter, where the Green Machine inevitably takes loads out of the book. Durrant is a value alternative at a juicy 11-1.

The BDO world champion, who kicks off against Adrian Lewis, is unseeded but in rock-solid touch with two floor wins as he eases his way into life with the PDC.

Anderson is a less convincing favourite in the second quarter where the in-form Aspinall gets the nod at 5-1.

Recommendations
G Price
1pt e-w 20-1 Betfair, Paddy Power
G Durrant to win first quarter
1pt 11-1 Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Bet
N Aspinall to win second quarter
1pt 5-1 Sky Bet

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