Adrian Lewis v Glen Durrant
World Matchplay Darts 10.30 pm
Sky Sports
This is the heavyweight showdown of the first round of action at the Winter Gardens. Glen Durrant is still finding his way in the PDC after coming through Q-School this year. He joins the PDC tour after years of success in the BDO. Duzza will be looking to kick up a storm at the World Matchplay over the next week. The 3-time BDO World Champion enters his first campaign at this particular PDC event.
What makes this even more fascinating is that the winner of this match will likely meet outright facilitate Michael van Gerwen in the second round. Durrant beat MVG in the semi-finals of the Players Championship 15 this year. Duzza went on to earn his second PDC title in the event. Durrant will be going into the first round match in Blackpool as the 8/13 favourite. He’ll certainly get plenty of baking as one of the best bets of the day with punters.
Former PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis is a 13/10 underdog here then. He’s going to be under some pressure. He is ranked 16th for the tournament, which is his current status on the PDC order of merit. It has been a long while since he has challenged for a title, not since a semi-final berth in the 2017 Masters has he really been close. He has, however, been to the semi-finals in two of the last three editions of the World Matchplay. Will a return to the Winter Gardens spark him into life?
St Johnstone v Ross County
Scottish League Cup – 3.30 pm
BT Sport
There has already been plenty of action in Scotland. That’s because of the early start that the Scottish League Cup brings. Celtic are the reigning champions, but we’re a long way off from even thinking about this season’s winner. The Group Stage is in swing at the moment which is eight groups of five teams. All Scottish Professional Football League clubs play in this except those on European duty. Ross Country have come out in fine fettle banking two wins in two, scoring eight and conceding just one. They took a 4-1 win over Montrose and then a 4-0 win at Brechin. Ross, who won the Championship last season, are 19/10 to pick up the victory.
They should get a stiffer challenge here against Premiership side St Johnstone. The Perth side suffered a 1-0 reverse against Montrose in their opener. But with three more games to play, they won’t be hitting the panic button. Each team plays four group games, two home and two away. Any game which ends in a draw at 90 minutes goes to a penalty shootout. The winner of that claims a bonus point. St Johnstone were defeated in their last five games against Ross, winning two and drawing three. The Saints are 23/20 to get a win to get them in the race for the top spot.
James Wade v Jeffrey de Zwaan
World Matchplay Darts – 7.40 pm
Sky Sports
Aside from Michael van Gerwen and the reigning Champion Gary Anderson, the only other player in the 2019 draw for the World Matchplay Darts is James Wade. That’s it. The large reason for that is the 16 titles that Phil Taylor won before he retired. Wade’s success happened in 2007 when he beat Terry Jenkins heavily in the final. Wade has a handy record at this tournament. Along with his title success in 2007, he has been to the final of five other World Matchplay tournaments and has two semi-final finishes as well. The Machine is looking for a lift though as he hasn’t been past the second round in the last three editions.
Wade is the 8/15 outright favourite for the match, but he has reason to be cautious. Twelve months ago Jeffrey de Zwaan created a shockwave in the very first round. That is because he beat top seed Michael van Gerwen. Following that the Dutch player knocked off former World Champion Adrian Lewis and Dave Chisnall. He eventually fell in the semi-final against eventual winner Gary Anderson. That was some run from him though. Can he do it again on his return to the Winter Gardens?
