PDC World Matchplay Darts - PDC World Matchplay Darts
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by Steve Ashfield | in PDC World Matchplay Darts Predictions
Top seed Luke Humphries begins his bid to win the World Matchplay Championship. Round one sees Cool Hand Luke in a best of 19 legs match against unseeded Dutchman Gian van Veen. Here's our match prediction.
This is one of the top tournaments on the PDC Tour and is being played at its traditional Blackpool Winter Gardens venue. Humphries is the defending champion after beating Michael van Gerwen in the final.
He remains top of the world rankings and titles won this year include the Premier League, World Masters and most recently, the US Darts Masters. The winner of this match will face either unseeded Cameron Menzies or 16th seed Danny Noppert in round two.
It's a tough first round draw therefore for Gian van Veen who is at 22nd in the world rankings. The 23-year-old has never made it past this stage in the World Matchplay. This year saw him get to the quarter-finals of the UK Open.
The Dutchman has lost two of his last three matches. He will want to recapture the form that saw him beat Humphries four months ago. That isn't going to be easy though in such a large tournament as this.
We tip Humphries to win on a -2.5 legs handicap.
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Luke Humphries - Gian van Veen Key Points
- Humphries is the world number one ranked darts player.
- Humphries won this title last year.
- Van Veen has lost two of his last three matches.
- Humphries has won six of his last seven matches and recently won the US Darts Masters.
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Our Luke Humphries vs Gian van Veen Prediction
Not since Michael van Gerwen in 2016 has a player won two successive World Matchplay titles. Luke Humphries will look to achieve that feat and the world number one continues to be a major force in the top tournaments even though Luke Littler gets all the headlines.
He faces Gian van Veen in round one on Saturday evening and will look to avenge a loss to him earlier this year. The Dutchman will need to improve his current form though. Our Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen prediction is Luke Humphries to win on a -2.5 legs handicap.
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All tips are fully researched and given in good faith, but profits cannot be guaranteed.
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