2020 Betfred World Matchplay – Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen taking place? Wednesday 22nd July, 2020 (session starts at 19:00 (UK))
Where is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen taking place? Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
What channel is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen on? Sky Sports
Where can I stream Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen? The 2020 Betfred World Matchplay will take place behind closed doors
What was the outcome in the last meeting? Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Joe Cullen 6-5
THE LOWDOWN
DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH
- Dimitri Van den Bergh averaged 98.42 and checked out 41.7% of his attempts at the doubles in a 10-6 victory against Nathan Aspinall on his World Matchplay debut.
- The Belgian recovered from losing his throw in the opening leg of the match to go in at the first break with a 3-2 lead. He extended his advantage to 7-3 going into the second interval and always kept Aspinall at arm’s length thereafter.
- Van den Bergh is now bidding to reach his third major ranking TV quarter-final in a row having also reached the last eight at both the 2019-20 PDC World Championship and the UK Open back in March.
JOE CULLEN
- Joe Cullen avenged his 10-0 first round defeat against Ian White at the 2019 Matchplay with a nail-biting victory in a last-leg shootout against Diamond on Monday evening.
- White had looked set to triumph again when he led 8-4, but Cullen dug deep to claim five legs on the trot – helped by his opponent missing six darts at the doubles across those five legs – and then held his nerve in a scrappy but tense finale.
- Despite the victory, it wasn’t a particularly good performance as he averaged under 90 for much of the contest and one feels he will need to play a lot better if he is to reach a second Matchplay quarter-final.
THE PREDICTION
It will be hard for either of these two players to ignore the fact that they have an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-finals, with the highest ranked player left in this section of the draw being Adrian Lewis. Whilst they are both extremely talented players, they can be inconsistent and these inconsistencies could be evident due to nerves with so much at stake. Dimitri Van den Bergh has been a little more reliable with his big tournament performances over recent times, as shown with runs to the quarter-finals in the last two major ranking tournaments, and I am siding with him to have the edge. Three of their previous five meetings have gone the distance – albeit over a shorter format – so there may be some value in betting on the match to last over 18.5 legs.
