Daryl Gurney has been very consistent this season and the match winner is a tight call but I like the 180 market in this match in favour of the Aubergenius, Dirk Van Duijvenbode.

Gurney was once one of the biggest hitters of maximum in PDC darts but his seasonal average of 0.23 per leg is nowehere near those who reign supreme in this statistical field.

Van Duijvenbode is one of those players however who is considered to be one of the best 180’s around and arguably along with Ross Smith and Gary Anderson is currently in top three in the world at filling the red bit.

The Dutchman’s rate per leg at 0.39 dwarfs that of the Northern Irishman and he managed to bang in four on Thursday night as he eliminated the number one seed, Martin Schindler.

Looking at recent form, Dirk’s last ten matches read as follows 5, 3, 6, 3, 4, 2, 4, 5, 4, 4. Daryl in his ten most recent outings has notched up 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 1, 0, 1, 0, 3. All the evidence points to a rejuvenated Van Duijvenbode mastering the maximum market.

Both players recorded emphatic victories in round one. Luke Woodhouse eliminated 2022 champion Ross Smith 6-1 and Ryan Searle knocked out the Dutch legend Raymond Van Barneveld 6-2.

Looking at their matches from a purely statistical point of view and Searle was the better player. Searle averaged 101.58 and was 46% on his doubles, both of which are excellent, and both were higher than Woodhouse who averaged 95.26 and hit 40% of his double attempts.

Searle is also favoured in several other areas. He leads their head to meetings 3-2, is ranked some sixteen places higher in the PDC Order of Merit prior to this event getting underway and his seasonal average is 96.16, compared to the 93.24 of Woodhouse.

Woodhouse is capable of beating anyone on his day but you have to favour the higher seeded player, Ryan Searle to come out on top given everything we’ve pointed out so far.

A truly blockbuster encounter that was one described as the ‘El Classico’ of darts.

It appeared a couple of years ago that Anderson’s career may start dwindling away due to injuries and a refusal to partake in Euro Tour events. That’s all changed these past twelve months or so and he admits to enjoying playing darts again.

That enthusiasm has enabled him to really stamp his authority on the game this year. His seasonal average of 100.08 is the highest of all 128 Tour Card Holders currently and his match win percentage of 77% is remarkable. He’s only played 86 matches this season, picking the events he wishes to play and he’s already amassed 46 ton plus averages.

Whilst we all know what MVG is capable of, even he is not playing to that level. His seasonal average is 97.37, his win percentage is 70% and although he’s notched up four more ton plus averages at 50 for the season, that’s come over 63 extra matches.

Van Gerwen was put in his place the weekend by Luke Littler and I think Gary Anderson could do something similar, although it would be a surprise if the result of this match was as one-sided.

Jermaine Wattimena defeated a lacklustre Peter Wright 6-0 on Friday night, which was his fourth whitewash victory in his last thirteen matches.

What’s consistent about Wattimena however is his inconsistency. In his last 15 matches he’s averaged below 90 twice, between 90 and 94 five times, 95 to 99 two times and a ton plus six times. Take the weekend for example. At the Czech Darts Open he defeated Chris Dobey 6-0 averaging 107.36 then followed this up with two averages in the eighties.

Wade is the opposite, hence his nickname of ‘The Machine’. You sort of know what you are going to get from him. In his eight matches since reaching the Quarter-Final of the World Grand Prix he’s averaged mid-nineties upwards in all of them.

He’s the type of player who gobbles up any opportunity that presents itself. He looked in terrific nick against Rob Cross, a player who typically excels in this event and averaged over a ton. Wattimena averaged some ten points less and could have trouble in matching Wade’s consistency over this longer format.