Betfred World Matchplay 2025 Betting Tips: The Machine features in Saturday’s Boosted Double

The Betfred World Matchplay has reached the semi-finals at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool and there are two great games taking place on Saturday.

Our star darts tipster Sean Rafferty has picked out two angles he likes the look of that have been boosted by the Betfred traders for Saturday's action...

*You can check out all of our Betfred World Matchplay Odds over on betfred.com

James Wade to hit over 7.5 180s vs Jonny Clayton @ 6/5

This is a golden opportunity for both players to go within a match of arguably the biggest tournament win of either of their careers. Wade won this way back in 2007 but I think this one would mean a bit more given he’s had many ups and downs since then and has perhaps been “written off” by some in the past in terms of being a major winner again.

Clayton breezed through what he would have felt would be a difficult match against Bunting - The Ferret raced into a 5-0 lead at the first break and never looked back as he cruised to a 16-7 win. An average above 98 and 50% on his doubles was more than enough for the Welshman and a similar performance tonight would certainly stand him in good stead.

Wade had to work a bit harder for his passage to the semis as he defeated the talented Van Veen 16-3. Ultimately, it was another match Wade went into as the bookies outsider and another match he upset the odds, passing the test with flying colours.

The Machine started slowly for the first time this week, finding himself 4-1 down to the young Dutchman before reeling off eight legs on the spin to take complete control of the match. There’s not many better in darts at protecting a lead than Wadey, so the final result was beyond much doubt after that.

Both players will be pleased with their efforts getting this far, but both will also feel they are playing well enough to be in with a real chance of winning the title. It’s a huge game for both and the head-to-head is a bit all over the place, Clayton leads 16-13 in previous meetings, surprisingly not many have been tightly contested. The match looks tight on paper but due to how their recent meetings have went, I’m not too confident about going over legs.

Instead, I’m going to go for Wade 180s. There’s no doubting that the scoring phase of James’ game has improved from a couple years ago, hence why he’s managed to climb back up the rankings and consider himself a major contender amongst the elite again.

Wadey has hit 17 180s in 58 legs thus far (0.29 180s per leg), if he can continue at that rate then he’ll require around 26-27 legs to reach eight maximums. With the format now being first to 17 legs, it seems more likely than not so 6/5 looks a bit of value in an otherwise tricky looking match to bet on.

Over 22.5 180s in Luke Littler vs Josh Rock @ 4/9

The magnitude of this fixture feels huge, which is only heightened by the fact that these two brilliant talents have yet to play each other in the PDC. It really could be some spectacle - two of the biggest scorers in darts going toe to toe in a best of 33 legs match.

Rock really stepped up to the plate last night, defeating in-form Gerwyn Price 16-11. Price eventually succumbed to what was a relentless barrage of scoring and excellent finishing from Josh. Rocky averaged 104, hit 10 180s and was 57% on his doubles.

His solid finishing has been a surprise feature this week, considering this has been seen as a slight weakness of his in the past - the Northern Irishman is 46.84% on his doubles across the tournament, which will be tough for anyone to beat considering how heavy he can score.

Littler was also impressive in what was a very tough test against Andrew Gilding. The Nuke could not pull clear of Gilding so had to battle his way to a 16-14 win. Take nothing away from the performance - Littler still averaged 104, hitting a staggering 18 180s along the way.

I wasn’t sure how Luke would perform last night, as he has struggled to find his better stuff against Goldfinger in the past, but there was real maturity about that display from the 18 year-old, who produced an 11-darter in the final leg to fend off any potential comeback.

It’s hard to know exactly what to expect from this one, with it being their first meeting in the PDC and it being such a big game, nerves could play a part. So I’ll concentrate on what seems like an absolute guarantee between this pair - relentless 180 hitting.

As I say, Littler managed 18 maximums in 30 legs against Andrew, Rock himself has been one of the most prolific 180 hitters this year. Between the pair, they’re averaging 0.86 180s per leg over the past 12 months, a number I believe to have increased in 2025.

Assuming this match goes 25+ legs, 23+ maximums seems like a bit of a shoo-in, in what should be a memorable Matchplay classic.

*You can check out all of Betfred's Darts Odds for the Betfred World Matchplay and all tournaments throughout the year over on betfred.com

You can find all Sean's latest Darts Betting Tips on our main Insights content hub.