2022 World Matchplay Winner Odds Favor MVG Ahead of Clayton

The 2022 Betfred World Matchplay is held between the 16th and 24th of July at the Winter Gardens, in Blackpool. Peter Wright is the defending champion and one of the top favorites again. The 2022 World Matchplay winner odds favor the Dutch world No4, Michael Van Gerwen to get the win for the third time in the event’s history. But all his main rivals, Clayton, Price, and Wright will be there with similar ambitions. 

For the first time in the history of the sport, there will be a Women’s World Matchplay held on the last day of the men’s competition. You can read more about the favorites there in our previous article. The men’s event will be the 29th edition of the tournament, with 32 players taking part in it. The top 16 players of the ProTour Order of Merit will be seeded and meet unseeded players in the first round.

Legendary Phil Taylor got the most Matchplay wins with 16 victories. While Michael Van Gerwen is the most successful current player with two wins and a runner-up finish. He will be among the top favorites again just like the defending champion, Peter Wright who defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh in last year’s final. 

MVG Leads the 2022 World Matchplay Winner Odds 

Michael Van Gerwen seems to be back in his best form after already winning several tournaments this season. Including the 2022 Premier League Play-off and the 2022 European Darts Open. He also won the German and the Austrian Darts Open while he was the runner-up in the US Darts Masters.

Van Gerwen had to miss the World Cup of Darts due to arm surgery but will compete in the World Matchplay. The three-time world champion has won twice this tournament and is the top favorite to win it again. Online sportsbooks in the UK offer the odds of 6.00 for his victory. 

Johnny Clayton follows him in the favorites according to the 2022 World Matchplay winner odds. The Welsh player performed well in this season’s Premier League but was beaten by Joe Cullen in the Play-off semi-final. He also got to the final of the World Cup of Darts along with Gerwyn Price but lost they’re against Australia.

Clayton is in 8th place in the world rankings and seeded 8th in this tournament as well. Bookmakers still offer the second smallest odds, 7.50 for his win. We can find similar odds next to the other Welsh player, Gerwyn Price who won the 2022 International Darts Open. He also got to the semi-final in the US Darts Masters and to the final of the World Cup as we mentioned before. The world No2’s odds to win in Blackpool are 8.00. 

Wright, Smith, and Other Possible Winners

The current world champion and the world ranking leader Peter Wright is also the defending champion of the tournament. Surprisingly online gambling sites in the UK only mention him in fourth place among the favorites with the odds of 9.00. Even though Wright performed similarly to his main rivals, Gerwen and Price his year.

It’s true though that he hasn’t won any tournament in 2022 and didn’t even qualify for the Premier League Play-off. Wright reached the final though in the International Darts Open and the semi-final in the US Darts Masters last month. 

The runner-up of the 2022 PDC Darts World Championship, Michael Smith also finished second in the 2022 UK Open. The 31-year-old English player finally won an event, the 2022 Dutch Darts Championship in May. It was followed by another victory at the 2022 US Darts Masters. Bully Boy’s best result in the World Matchplay has been getting to the final in 2019.

Now his odds to win this event are 11.00. Last year’s finalist, Dimitri van den Bergh has been in great form recently after winning the Nordic and the Dutch Darts Masters. He also finished as a runner-up in the 2022 European Darts Open. Making the Belgian world No9 another player with a chance of winning. His odds to do so are 13.00. on bet365. 

Click here to stay tuned with bet365 Sportsbook