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PDC 2013 World Championship Final Premium Picks.
Happy New Year, I hope you had a good one and you’re fresh for tonight’s World Championship Final. Yes, we’ve reached the final. After 14 days of darting action, we’ve got our two finalists – Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. The favourite and second-favourite for the tournament meet in the final and it’s extremely fitting. It’ll be the old guard trying to regain a title that was taken from him by one of the new guard.
Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen both won 6-4 in their semi-finals against Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade. The only losing tip we had was on Barney’s total 180s, which was a bit disappointing, as he finished the game far better than he started; if he started as well as he finished, we’d have had a perfect night.
The Premium Picks went 3-1 last time out, taking them to 26-30 after fourteen days of the PDC 2013 World Championship, with a profit of -5.79 units. And remember, all Darts Betting Tips Premium Picks subscribers will get the Premium Picks for the 2013 BDO World Championship, too.
Phil Taylor (1) Vs Michael van Gerwen (7).
So this is it, we’ve got the two men we wanted to see in the final, we’ve got a great back story to it, and it’s shaping up to be another World Championship Final classic.
Phil Talyor, some are saying, is coming into this final in poor form. But then he’s only dropped 26 legs, 5 sets and has a tournament average of 96.34. Yes, the average isn’t great, his finishing hasn’t been up to his usual standards, but that’s because we heap so much pressure on Taylor to put in an average of 100+ every time he steps up to the oche. The fact is, he’s playing a bit below his all-time best, but he’s doing what needs to be done. He didn’t drop a set against Robert Thornton, Andy Hamilton and Michael Mansell, which is pretty good going considering two of those men are playing great darts.
Michael van Gerwen, 9-darter, 17 perfect darts, etc. We’ll get the obvious out of the way and then mention his tournament average of 98.47, and his 48 180s. He’s playing exciting darts, he’s looking unbeatable at times, and he’s full of confidence. Out of the two men left standing, Van Gerwen undoubtedly had the tougher draw, having to get past James Wade and Adrian Lewis, as well as Colin Lloyd and Peter Wright, who had been playing great darts. Yes, he’s prone to lapses and his finishing hasn’t been great, but his scoring has just been too strong for his opponents.
I think this is the final we all wanted to see. It’s experience versus youth, old guard versus new guard, and I can’t wait. The story here revolves around two things. First, we’ve got to wonder about Taylor’s mentality after his actions after his semi-final, as well as his comments in the media. He’s claiming he doesn’t care, his heart’s not in it, and that he might retire. Add in his “cold” and Taylor doesn’t look too exciting a prospect. However, Taylor is the king of mind games, and I think this is a bit part of it. And then we’ve got Michael van Gerwen’s injury to his feet. The longer the match goes, the worse it could get. And I think we’re going to get a long match. Which takes me to the first bet – I think we’re going to see a lot of 180s. Taylor hasn’t been firing them in lately, but he’s still capable and will no doubt up the performance to compete with MVG’s scoring. And MVG will no doubt fire in 14 or so, which means we only need Taylor to get around 8, which he’s more than capable of. The line of 21.5 looks nice to me.
And then, of course, there’s the winner market. The bookies can’t split the two of them, and I can’t blame them – there will be a lot of money going on MVG thanks to Taylor’s recent comments. But what worries me about MVG is that he has these lapses in concentration and also in his finishing that doesn’t always get punished. Adrian Lewis had match darts against him and James Wade managed to get 4 sets on the board, even though he was averaging 87.37, which is 10 less than MVG. Taylor will average more than that and will punish those missed doubles from MVG. Add in that Taylor’s been there and done that, and I think we’re going to see title 16 from The Power. Yes, MVG is good, but he has to sort out those lapses, as he’s going to get punished. Barney and the final of the Grand Slam of Darts proves that.
Finally, the total sets is where we’re going. As I mentioned previously, I think we’re going to get a lot of sets, and Victor Chandler has a line of 10.5, which I can see being beat comfortably. There’s good value in that price, as both men will have some lapses that will let the other in, and each can get 4 sets. From there, Taylor can kick on and wrap up number 16.
Over 21.5 180s in Van Gerwen Vs Taylor match: 5/6 @
Recommend: 3 units.
Phil Taylor to beat Michael Van Gerwen: 10/11 @ 888sport.
Recommend: 2.5 units.
Over 10.5 sets in Taylor Vs Van Gerwen match: 4/5 @
Recommend: 4 units.
And that’s it for the 2013 PDC World Championship. Thanks for subscribing and I’ll be back in 4 days for the 2013 BDO World Championship. Until then, enjoy the final!
