Will Aspinall knock Murnan out of the tournament?
Will Joe Murnan go down in darts history as the player who sent legend Paul Lim into Ally Pally retirement? That will be up to the Singapore Slinger himself and we will see if the now 67-year-old can qualify for the World Championship in London again. If not, Friday night’s performance was the last for him, while the road continues for Murnan in the tournament.
The Englishman eased to a 3-2 win and will now face compatriot Nathan Aspinall. The 30-year-old is ranked number 10 in the world and has almost always performed very well at the World Championships so far. He has already reached the semi-finals twice and for that reason alone he is of course very clearly favoured by the best bookmakers.
Between Nathan Aspinall and Joe Murnan, odds on him to win are peaking at 1.14, while the stake can be more than sixfold with successful bets on the underdog. Handicaps must be looked out for in this fixture. The first arrows will fly across the stage on Wednesday evening from 20:00 German time.
Nathan Aspinall – Statistics & current form
Nathan Aspinall has already achieved a lot in his still young career. He has twice reached the semi-finals of the World Championship, managed to reach the final of the 2020 Premier League and claimed a Major title at the 2019 UK Open. The Stockport man has truly earned his place in the top ten of the world rankings and in 2021 he was looking to take the next step forward.
Can Aspinall salvage a poor year in 2021?
For this, he stepped up with new darts, but they rather took away his momentum. Numerous early failures and weak performances can be found throughout the year and really big successes are not to be found. The quarterfinals of the World Matchplay in summer and the semi-finals of the European Championship are the biggest highlights. For this reason, too, the pressure is particularly high on the “Natter” before the start of the World Championship.
The Asp wants to get back on track and confirm the upward trend from the Player Championship Finals. There he played a triple-digit average against Jeff Smith in round one and was then eliminated by Rob Cross despite a solid performance.
You can always count on “The Asp” at the Ally Pally
The world number ten is a force to be reckoned with on his favourite stage, and the slight underdog role in the fight for the title may even suit the 30-year-old somewhat. In the opening match between Nathan Aspinall and Joe Murnan, the prediction should definitely be made in the direction of the clear favourite.
Last matches of Nathan Aspinall:
World Darts Championship
12/22 2021 – Nathan Aspinall 3 – 2 Joe Murnan
Players Championship Finals
11/27 2021 – Rob Cross 6 – 4 Nathan Aspinall
11/26 2021 – Nathan Aspinall 6 – 2 Jeff Smith
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Nathan Aspinall 2 – 6 Krzysztof Ratajski
11/04 2021 – Nathan Aspinall 6 – 4 Luke Woodhouse
Joe Murnan – Statistics & current form
Job Murnan has been on the PDC circuit for almost exactly a decade now. All too big successes can’t be found in his CV. A surprising floor title in 2015 in the Players Championship tournament in Crawley is almost the highlight for the man from Bolton. After a few weak seasons, the trend clearly pointed upwards again in 2021 and the 38-year-old was able to get the tour card again via the Q-School.
Murnan keeps his nerve against the living legend and the crowd
Winning a ticket to the World Championships capped off the year and in round one, success against legend Paul Lim was a real liberating blow. Murnan kept putting himself in trouble by missing chances and in the end managed to stay just ahead in the deciding fifth round.
In the end, his average was under 80 points, which, of course, is clearly too low compared to the world’s best. The underdog will have to show a clear improvement in performance on Wednesday if he wants to win a set against Aspinell. It is almost impossible to talk about a place in round three.
Violent performance improvement would be needed
There are rarely any really big runaways upwards for the Englishman, which is why the match on the penultimate day of competition before Christmas does not have too much surprise potential. It’s much more likely to tip the odds between Nathan Aspinall and Joe Murnanl for an outright success for the clear favourite.
Last games played by Joe Murnan:
World Darts Championship
12/22 2021 – Nathan Aspinall 3 – 2 Joe Murnan
12/17 2021 – Joe Murnan 3 – 2 Paul Lim
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Danny Noppert 6 – 2 Joe Murnan
11/04 2021 – Joe Murnan 6 – 5 Aaron Beeney
Players Championship 29
11/03 2021 – Danny Noppert 6 – 4 Joe Murnan
Nathan Aspinall – Joe Murnan Direct comparison / H2H record
The direct comparison is probably the only argument that suggests a prediction in the direction of the underdog in the Nathan Aspinall vs Joe Murnan match. The world number 94 surprisingly won the only meeting so far at a Players Championship event at the beginning of 2020 with 6:4. Now the top ten player is looking for revenge on the big stage.
Nathan Aspinall – Joe Murnan Tip
Last year Nathan Aspinal came away with a scare in his opening match of the World Cup. He overcame a 2-0 deficit on his way to winning the decider with match darts from Scott Waites. “The Asp” is looking to avoid a similar nerve-wracking drama this year and he has some prize money to defend in the Order of Merit. If he wants to stay in the top ten of the rankings, the family man will have to go far in the tournament, which is why his concentration will be high from the first moment.
The draw suits him somewhat and “Midnight” shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle if the Englishman displays a similar level to round one. His average was under 80 points. With such a performance, the underdog should not stand a chance.
It is much more likely that the two-time World Cup semi-finalist will win outright and from a betting point of view, the odds on Nathan Aspinall vs. Joe Murnan are 3:0. Five units are selected as the stake size.
