Will Gerwyn Price celebrate a successful tournament start?

Curtains down for the World Matchplay 2023! Already on the first day of the tournament last year’s finalist Gerwyn “The Iceman” Price is represented. The Welshman failed last year to win against Michael van Gerwen and missed his first Matchplay title. The 2023 tournament will start with the match against Stephen Bunting.

As expected the bookmakers see the world number four from Wales as favourite. For a Price vs. Bunting bet on “The Iceman” odds of only 1.25 are offered.

The last time the two players met was just under two years ago. Gerwyn Price beat Bunting 4-2 in the 2021 World Grand Prix to extend his record against the Englishman.

It’s quite possible that a prediction on the Welshman will also come true this time with Price vs. Our tip aims at it – among other things because Bunting so far could only manage the first round of the World Matchplay twice in his current professional career.

Gerwyn Price – Statistics & current form

Gerwyn Price has flown largely under the radar so far this season as, apart from winning the PDC World Cup of Darts title, the Welshman has fallen short of high expectations. In singles “The Iceman” won only two of the last five matches. Last the Welshman failed in the Polish Masters to Van den Bergh and missed the final.

In the two matches before Gerwyn Price had won against Waclawski and Aspinall. “The Iceman” had a doubles percentage above the 30% mark in both matches. Against van den Bergh the Welshman even hit 54,55-% of his throws on the doubles – but with the worse average he still couldn’t win the match.

Is Price celebrating a comfortable win?

In the best-of-19, Gerwyn Price should still not struggle too much against Stephen Bunting and win the first round in the World Matchplay. The Welshman hasn’t been eliminated in the first round of the upcoming competition since 2020 anyway. In 2021 Price reached the quarterfinals, in 2022 “The Iceman” lost in the final to “MVG”.

The H2h against Stephen Bunting also speaks in favour of the Welshman: “The Iceman” won five of the last six encounters against the Englishman. If the next win beckons, betting odds of 1.25 for tip 1 are paid out for Price vs. Bunting.

Stephen Bunting – Statistics & current form

Stephen Bunting makes his ninth start of his current professional career in the PDC World Matchplay on Saturday night. In his eight participations before the Englishman only twice reached the second round. Six times Bunting had to withdraw from the tournament – as in the last two seasons.

In 2021 Stephen Bunting lost to Gary Anderson. In 2022 the Englishman lost to Krzysztof Ratajski. It’s quite possible that “The Bullet” will fail in the first round this time as well. The best bookmakers see the 38-year-old veteran as the clear underdog against Gerwyn Price.

Is Bunting’s recent negative trend continuing?

In the last six matches Bunting left the stage as a loser three times. Surprisingly two of those three defeats were against players like Scutt and van Peer who are far lower ranked in the PDC ranking than the experienced Stephen Bunting. “The Bullet” therefore does not go into the World Matchplay 2023 in best shape and is in a way doomed to fail.

To keep up with a player like Gerwyn Price a high scoring average is of great importance for Bunting. If “The Bullet” plays with an average above the 90 mark, the Englishman can expect at least a few legs against the Welshman. For a coup of the 38-year-old even betting odds of 4.00 are offered for Price vs.

Gerwyn Price – Stephen Bunting Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

This is the tenth time these two players have met on tour. So far, Gerwyn Price has won seven of nine encounters against Stephen Bunting. The last time was in October 2021, when “The Iceman” prevailed with a 4:2 win over the Englishman. Price had only a meagre average of 88,99 – but by far the better double rate than Bunting.

Gerwyn Price – Stephen Bunting Tip

Gerwyn Price starts the 2023 World Matchplay with a broad chest as last year’s finalist. It is one of the few titles the Welshman has not won in his current professional career. The tournament 2023 starts for “The Iceman” with the first round match against Stephen Bunting. In the last two seasons the Englishman always had to retire in the first round of the match play.

It is quite possible that this negative series will continue against Gerwyn Price. Especially as the H2h is in favour of the Welshman anyway. Price has already won seven out of nine matches against Bunting.

We expect a one-sided match in favour of the Welshman in the Best-of-19 and place our bet on a win for Price against Bunting with at least five legs ahead. We are betting five out of ten possible units for this.