Darts Betting Tips: Doets features in Matchplay double

Our resident darts tipster Sean Rafferty is back with more tips from the Betfred World Matchplay, as we look ahead to Monday's action.

Check out his latest Darts Tips below.

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Betfred World Matchplay 2026 Odds

Kevin Doets to beat Ross Smith @ 4/5

It’s the unseeded players I’m favouring with this double, the first of those is the Dutchman Kevin Doets. It’s been somewhat of a breakthrough year for Doets as he’s really elevated his game to the next level, it’s seen him win his first ever PDC title, as he won a Pro Tour event in April, which was quickly followed by a run to a first ever European Tour final for Hawkeye.

It’s been an equally productive season for Ross Smith, having finally won his first ever European Tour title in May, which has been backed-up with a couple of Pro Tour titles too. I’ve been a regular backer of Ross this year but when it comes to major tournaments my stance on him completely changes - outside of his European Championship win in 2022, his record in the biggest tournaments isn’t pretty reading for a player of his calibre. Smudger’s only made three quarter-finals or better in three other majors in his career and has failed to go beyond the Last 16 in any of his last ten.

Statistically there’s very little to separate the two this year, Doets averaging 96.37 across the last six months, compared to 95.86 for Smith. The 180s are being hit at a similar rate with Doets winning slightly more matches and with a better doubles checkout percentage. The Winter Gardens hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Smith in previous year, losing in the opening round in three of his four visits to Blackpool. This looks another dangerous opener for him against a fearless Doets who can treat this as a free hit, with this being his Matchplay debut he doesn’t defend any ranking money this week. I have to favour the Dutchman to come through this exciting match-up.

Rob Cross to beat Danny Noppert @ 4/7

This was one of the matches that definitely caught my eye when the draw was made. You definitely couldn’t call this one an upset if the unseeded player progresses, with Cross actually being priced up as the 8/13 favourite.

I can’t argue with the odds either, the favourite tag has been rightfully earned by Rob thanks to a series of impressive runs and performances in recent months - despite a lot going on in his personal life, he seems to have been able to put that to one side and get the balance right as his form has been mightily impressive coming into this. Cross has only dropped below a 90 average once in his last 21 matches.

Noppert on the other hand has seen his form dip a little in recent months, the Dutchman has only averaged 99+ once in his last 26 matches. It’s been a stark contrast from the consistently good showings he was putting in in the major tournaments last year.

I’m under no illusions that this will be an easy ride for Cross, Noppie is one tough player to beat but you’re looking at one player brimming with confidence against a player who’s in the worst form he has been for a long time. It could be tight, but I fancy Cross to fight through this heavyweight clash.

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