2019 BoyleSports World Grand Prix – Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton Preview & Prediction

THE FACTS

When is Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton taking place? Monday 7^th October, 2019 – evening session

Where is Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton taking place? Citywest Convention Centre, Dublin

What channel is Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton on? Sky Sports Arena

Where can I stream Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go

Where can I get tickets for Stephen Bunting vs Jonny Clayton? Tickets are available on Ticketmaster

THE STATISTICS

All-time meetings: Stephen Bunting 1-5 Jonny Clayton
Last meeting: Stephen Bunting 3-6 Jonny Clayton

THE PLAYERS

STEPHEN BUNTING

• Stephen Bunting reached the semi-finals on his Grand Prix debut in 2014 before losing to the eventual champion Michael van Gerwen – but since then he lost his opening match in three of the last four years.
• Bunting’s only victory at the World Grand Prix since his run in 2014 was against the then defending champion Robert Thornton in the 2016 edition of the tournament.
• The Bullet impressed at the World Matchplay in July when he reached the quarter-finals with hard-fought wins against Gerwyn Price and Ian White – he narrowly lost to eventual champion Rob Cross in the last eight.

JONNY CLAYTON

• Jonny Clayton won only one leg in a straight sets opening round defeat against Gary Anderson on his World Grand Prix debut last year.
• Clayton reached back-to-back TV quarter-finals at the Grand Slam and Players Championship finals at the back end of 2018 but since then he has disappointingly lost in the first round at the World Matchplay and has won one of his last six matches in TV tournaments.
• The Welshman won his only previous TV encounter against Bunting on his way to reaching the final at the 2017 Players Championship finals which remains his best run in a PDC TV tournament.

THE PREDICTION

This looks to be an evenly contested match between two players who are capable of producing an excellent standard of darts on the big stage but not always in consecutive games. Stephen Bunting showed more recently in July at the World Matchplay when he reached the quarter-finals that his confidence is returning and that might just be the platform that gives him the edge here.