Darts Betting Tips: Scotsman Flying to semis in boosted double

The Betfred World Matchplay is into the business end and on Thursday we have the first two quarter finals. 

To celebrate our continued headline sponsorship, we've boosted our star darts tipster Sean Rafferty's selections and will continue to do daily throughout the tournament! Here are his Betfred World Matchplay quarter final tips...

Gary Anderson to beat Dirk Van Duijvenbode @ 8/15

I was sceptical about how Anderson would fare this week due to a lack of competitive match practice and preparation heading into this but I’m happy to admit he’s proved me wrong. The Flying Scotsman has so far mirrored the form he showed in the most recent World Championship - a stunning 110 average against Ryan Joyce stole the headlines in the opening round and he backed that up with an impressive win over Jonny Clayton in the last 16. Gary trailed 4-1 at the first break but reeled off five legs on the spin to gain control and never looked like giving up the lead after that point.

It was a rare win over fellow countryman Van Gerwen for the Dutchman, Van Duijvenbode. At one stage it looked like he may have blown his chance when he spurred chances to win it from 10-7 up and ended up 11-10 behind, the match went deep into overtime but Dirk eventually completed the upset, getting over the line with a 14-12 victory.

It marks a first quarter-final at the Winter Gardens for Dirk since 2022, a stage he’s never went beyond in this tournament. With Gary playing in his first Matchplay quarter-final since 2020. Dirk claimed in a post-match interview this week that he’ll ‘never win this tournament anyway’ as he said he loses interest and concentration over a longer format. How serious that comment was remains to be seen but when you look at his record in this and the World Championship, it may not be a million miles from the truth.

Anderson’s enjoyed the upper-hand in this fixture in recent years, winning their last four matches. A recent encounter at the UK Open in March is a good indicator as to how this one might pan out, the Scot won 10-6 on that occasion. With Anderson looking like he’s very much in the mood, I can’t see past him winning this one comfortably enough if he can keep producing that scoring power of his that has ploughed him through the first couple of rounds.

Luke Littler to hit most 180s vs Josh Rock @ 2/5

I’m running out of words to use to describe this generational talent, all I can say is good luck to anyone hoping to get between Littler and a second World Matchplay title this week.

The 19 year-old was simply sensational again in his Last 16 match against Aspinall - The Nuke averaged 113.68, the second highest average ever recorded at the World Matchplay, only behind the great Phil Taylor. He clinched a stunning 9-dart leg on double 15 in the very first leg, before almost historically repeating the feat only two legs later as he eventually went on to win 11-8 after a gutsy performance from Aspinall. It backs up a 109.53 average against Niko Springer in the opening round and dare I say it, if he keeps up this level of performance then he looks close to unbeatable as the format continues to extend further, a length of format he’s hardly ever lost in.

Rock has been a lot less eye-catching than his opponent to this point and can count himself pretty fortunate that both Woodhouse and Bunting threw in sub-par performances against him. Josh isn’t averaging much above the 90-mark for the tournament thus far, so knows he’ll need to improve significantly to even be competitive in this match.

These two have played plenty times, including a classic here in the semi-finals last year, but Rock is still yet to get the better of Luke, with the Northern Irishman trailing 9-0 in the head-to-head. They’ve played a few times over a longer format, with Littler winning those 17-14, 16-12 and 11-9.

I’d be shocked to see anything other than a Littler win but he’s far too short in that market to entertain it, I prefer him to hit most 180s at a back-able 2/5. Rocky’s only managed eight 180s in 31 legs for the tournament to this point, whereas Littler has already smashed in 21 180s in 35 legs. The Nuke’s hit most 180s in every match he’s played here since his debut in 2024 and I just can’t see that record ending over this long a format when he’s so reliable. He hit 18, 15 and 17 maximums in his matches from this stage onwards at the Matchplay last year.

You can load the boosted double straight to your betslip by clicking the banner below.

We've also got two more brilliant offers, which you can find below...

We're paying out on ANY player at the Betfred World Matchplay that has a 170 checkout or a 9-dart finish, whether they win or lose!