Three-time World Matchplay champion Michael van Gerwen goes up against Andrew Gilding at the quarter-final stage on Friday night. ‘Mighty Mike’ made a major statement of intent in round one by producing a ruthless display to dispatch pre-tournament second favourite Luke Littler with a 10-6 victory. Van Gerwen has since resisted a late rally from Joe Cullen in round two, with the Dutchman coming out on top by a scoreline of 11-8. Next up for MVG is a familiar foe in the shape of Gilding.

‘Goldfinger’ secured his spot in a first-ever Matchplay quarter-final after sending Peter Wright packing in round one before picking up an impressive 11-5 win over Krzysztof Ratajski at the Winter Gardens on Wednesday night. While it would take a monumental effort from Gilding to get the better of van Gerwen in Blackpool, the Suffolk star will draw confidence from the fact he defeated the Dutch destroyer in last year’s UK Open final.

However, the bookies are not anticipating a repeat here, with van Gerwen as short as 1.17 to emerge victorious. Going with MVG to win at such short odds is simply unbackable, so instead, side with the Dutchman to deliver over 7.5 180s at 1.80.

Van Gerwen has had an up and down time of it by his own high standards over the last couple of years but he has made an ominously strong start in his pursuit of a fourth Matchplay crown. ‘The Green Machine’ ranks fifth for 180s scored in this year’s tournament (13) ahead of the quarter-final stage, with eight of those maximums coming against Cullen in round two, while he managed to hit five in a race to 10 legs when wiping the floor with Littler. Given that this last eight showdown will be a best-of-31 legs affair, van Gerwen looks well worth supporting to rack up a minimum of eight 180s for the second game running.

The quarter-final contests at the 2024 World Matchplay continue on Friday night with arguably the tie of the round as Michael Smith meets Rob Cross in a fixture worthy of the final. This titanic tungsten tussle pits the world no. 2 against the world no. 4.

Smith sealed his passage to the last eight with an 11-9 win over Chris Dobey, gaining revenge in the process after being eliminated by the Newcastle ace in the second round last summer. Prior to that triumph, the ‘Bully Boy’ produced a rip-roaring mid-match rally to overcome Gary Anderson 10-5 in round one. As for Cross, he survived a real scare against Gian van Veen in the first round before delivering a stunning display to record a resounding 11-6 win over Ryan Searle in round two.

Consequently, ‘Voltage’ is the 1.8 pre-match favourite, meaning we can support Smith with a +2.5 start on the handicap line at an appealing price. This blockbuster battle has all the makings of an epic that could go the distance, as was the case in Cross’ sudden-death thriller against van Veen in round one. Smith’s round two success over Dobey also threatened the need for overtime, so there is plenty of scope for this showdown to go to the wire.

On top of this, the pair have enjoyed many classic duels at major TV events across the past four years or so, and there could be very little to separate the duo again on Friday night. With that in mind, backing Smith with a +2.5 start on the handicap market makes plenty of sense at this price.