Battle of two former World Champions!
Will the ghost of Phil Taylor be in play on Thursday? The two players who caused possibly the two most bitter defeats in the darts legend’s long career go head-to-head a day before Christmas. Raymond van Barneveld defeated “The Power” in the 2007 World Championship final – the last edition at the venerable Circus Tavern.
Cross who finally ended Taylor’s career on New Year’s Day 2018 with victory in the World Championship final. The match is one of the big highlights of Round 2 and only possible because Barney is not yet seeded after his comeback in London.
The Englishman is therefore slightly favoured at the best bookmakers and between Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld the odds on the side of the world number eleven are 1.53 at the top. With successful bets in the direction of the Dutchman, the stake can be more than doubled. The match will take place as the third match in the evening session and the players will step on the oche at around 22:00 hrs.
Rob Cross – Statistics & current form
Few darts stars rose as quickly as Cross’ in 2017. Like Phoenix from the ashes, “Voltage” came to the top of the world and was seeded directly at position 20 at the first World Championship. The end is known to everyone and he clearly beat Phil Taylor 7:2. The burden of this great title was felt in the following years and only in 2021 the 31-year-old experienced a real rebirth.
2021 the trend points upwards again
The last 16 at the World Grand Prix, the quarter-finals at the Grand Slam of Darts and the victory at the European Championship stand out as the best results. Matches like the last 16 win at the Grand Slam against Ryan Joyce with an average of 103 points could be seen more often and at the dress rehearsal for the World Championship, i.e. at the Players Championship Finals in the run-up to the big highlight of the year in the British capital, the number 11 of the world only lost to the later finalist Ryan Searle with 7:10 in the round of the last 16.
The form and self-confidence are right. Although he is the local hero at Alexandra Palace, a large part of the crowd is likely to be on his opponent’s side.
The favourite will also have to cope with this mentally and only if Voltage can show his best game will he still be in the tournament after Christmas. Between Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld a tip depends to a large extent on the Englishman’s nerves.
Last matches of Rob Cross:
Players Championship Finals
11/27 2021 – Ryan Searle 10 – 7 Rob Cross
11/27 2021 – Rob Cross 6 – 4 Nathan Aspinall
11/26 2021 – Rob Cross 6 – 2 Jermaine Wattimena
Grand Slam of Darts Final Stage
11/19 2021 – James Wade 16 – 14 Rob Cross
11/17 2021 – Ryan Joyce 4 – 10 Rob Cross
Raymond van Barneveld – Statistics & current form
It was the sensation at the beginning of the year. Raymond van Barneveld made his comeback at the Q-School 2021 where he could repeat the Tourcard via the ranking. In the third tournament of the Super Series Barney won the first Pro Tour title since 2013. The numerous triumphs of the five times World Champion (four times in the BDO, once in the PDC) speak for themselves and the Dutchman is without doubt one of the greatest darts players of all times.
Barney confirmed good World Championship form in Round 1
This was another reason why his return to the world’s biggest stage was eagerly anticipated. In Round 1, the 54-year-old had to deal with Lourence Ilagan from the Philippines. With a very steady performance, an average of almost 97 points and a check out rate of 36% he never gave his opponent a chance.
Van Barneveld only lost two legs in the whole match and managed to reach round 2 without losing a set. Already after the draw many had hoped for the duel with Voltage and on Thursday it will happen. The form of the day will certainly play a big role between these two players.
The Barney Army will be relied upon
Because between Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld the forecast depends heavily on this factor, the odds seem to be picked a bit high on the side of the underdog and the value is more to be found with the Dutchman. The “Barney Army” will do their bit to whip their great hero forward.
Last games of Raymond van Barneveld:
World Darts Championship
12/20 2021 – Raymond van Barneveld 3 – 0 Lourence Ilagan
Players Championship Finals
11/27 2021 – Michael van Gerwen 6 – 3 Raymond van Barneveld
11/26 2021 – Raymond van Barneveld 6 – 1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Grand Slam of Darts Group H
11/16 2021 – Gary Anderson 5 – 2 Raymond van Barneveld
11/14 2021 – Raymond van Barneveld 5 – 0 Joe Davis
Rob Cross – Raymond van Barneveld Direct comparison / H2H record
Until the temporary end of Barney’s career Rob Cross was one of his big fear opponents on the PDC circuit. Out of six duels Voltage won five and once he drew in the Premier League. But after the comeback things suddenly look completely different.
In February of this year, the world number 68 claimed his first victory in a Players Championship event. He was able to confirm this five months later with a 6:2 in Coventry. The two most recent duels were won by the underdog and with a third win in 2021 van Barneveld would continue his successful comeback at the World Championship.
Rob Cross – Raymond van Barneveld Tip
The pure look at the world ranking position leads to the conclusion that between Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld the odds are rightly lower on the side of the Englishman. However, the position 68 of the Dutchman says of course only half the truth. After his comeback at the beginning of the year, the five-time World Championship champion has hardly played in a major event and on a good day Barney still has top ten level
The good showing in Round 1 clearly confirmed that and the 2018 World Champion is warned ahead of his opening match. He will need to show his best game on the glass if he doesn’t want to pull the plug early. The chances of advancing are very even and the value is clearly on the side of the Dutch underdog.
In the pairing Rob Cross vs. Raymond van Barneveld the tip for an underdog win should be played. Six units are selected as the betting size
