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PDC World Matchplay 2013 Day Nine Premium Picks.
And then there was one match left. After a fantastic week and a bit of darts, we reach the end of a great tournament. Sure, we didn’t get many shock results, although if you consider Adrian Lewis beating Michael van Gerwen a shock, then we got one more last night. We’ve got the World Number 1 taking on the World Number 3, so it’s not like the rankings didn’t work out. Adrian Lewis saved his best darts for last night, and Taylor was unbelievable, so I think it’s safe to say we’re in for a cracker tonight.
Phil Taylor (1) Vs Adrian Lewis (3).
It’s an all-Stoke final, it’s the last two men standing, the Master vs the Apprentice. A two-time World Champion taking on, well, the man who owns the World Championship. The winner of this takes all the marbles
Phil Taylor has played 4 matches this week, and he’s yet to averaged under 100. He’s hit a 103, a 102, a 104 and saved his best for the big one last night, with a 107. He’s been in fine form, almost untouchable and outlasted the young pretender, Michael van Gerwen. Taylor’s also averaging around 40% on his doubles, which is what you need to make it this far. There’s been no part of his game that has looked weak, and he has a 1621 checkout to his name, to go along with his 22 maximums. He’s hitting a just over every 4 legs, which isn’t too bad, but could be better. His tournament average is 104.45, which no-one has been able to get near. In fact, Michael van Gerwen was a clear 2 point lower, and he’s not going to be watching this on Sky Sports.
Adrian Lewis has been average all week, then he pulls out one of his most impressive performances for a long time with his 17-15 win over Michael van Gerwen. He averaged 102.16, and hit an amazing 16 maximums. The three 100+ checkouts also didn’t hurt. If he can continue that, he’s going to be pushing Taylor all the way. Lewis has shown great fight, which isn’t always the case with Jackpot. Lewis has never really been one to fight when he’s been dead and buried, but this week he’s been in a few tight matches, so it’s refreshing to see that fight back, especially when he was all but finished against Andy Hamilton. Lewis has a tournament average of 95.39, so you can see how distinctly average is was before last night. But he’s upped his game when he’s needed to, and that’s all that matters. He’s also doubling a lot better than usual, at just under 39%. For someone who can easily average 20% or less, it’s impressive – everything seems to have been going his way.
This is really a battle of consistency. Taylor has been consistent all week, while Lewis has been up and down, all around, but when he’s been good he’s been great. The unfortunate thing is that when he’s been bad he’s been awful. Lewis played well last night, but he has around 8 points to find across the whole tournament to be a real danger to Taylor. Yes, he can do it, but I think last night might have just been his crowing glory. Taylor looks solid here, he looks good and he punished James Wade, who has been playing better than Lewis for most of the tournament. The fact that Lewis could easily come out and average 92 while Taylor puts in 102, just sums up how one-sided it COULD be. I’m not saying it will, but all the stats point to it happening. Don’t be blinded by Lewis’s performance last night, I don’t think lightning will strike twice. The other interesting line is the 147.5 highest checkout line at Victor Chandler. I think it’s a bit high, when you consider neither man got near it last night. Yes, they’ve hit 161s this week, but this might not even go as many legs as either match went last night. The line’s too high, considering other books are going 142.5. We’l take whatever advantage we can get, and that line’s awfully high.
Phil Taylor -5.5 legs to beat Adrian Lewis: Best price 5/4 Victor Chandler have the value on this, but feel free to shop around.)
Recommend: 3 units.
Highest checkout in Taylor Vs Lewis match under 147.5: Best price 5/6
Recommend: 3 units.
Total legs in Taylor Vs Lewis match under 30.5: Best price 11/10 (Victor Chandler again have various lines, the 30.5 is the value, but feel free to play on the other markets!)
Recommend: 2 units.
And that’s it for the 2013 World Matchplay Premium Picks. I’ll be back for the World Grand Prix, so until then, thanks for subscribing.
