2020 Betfred World Matchplay – Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe taking place? Saturday 18th July, 2020 (session starts at 18:00 (UK))
Where is Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe taking place? Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
What channel is Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe on? Sky Sports
Where can I stream Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Gary Anderson vs Justin Pipe? The 2020 Betfred World Matchplay will take place behind closed doors
What was the outcome in the last meeting? Gary Anderson beat Justin Pipe 6-3
THE LOWDOWN
GARY ANDERSON
- The 2018 World Matchplay champion Gary Anderson - one of the most successful players in PDC history – is appearing in his 12th Matchplay having been an ever-present since making his tournament debut in 2009.
- Anderson fell at the second hurdle in his defence of the title last year with the Flying Scotsman ousted by the wily veteran Mervyn King in the last 16 after earlier defeating Dutchman Danny Noppert in round one.
- Although Anderson bounced back from an injury-hit 2019 by claiming a Player Championship tournament win in February, he hasn’t managed to capture a major ranking title since that success at the 2018 Matchplay.
JUSTIN PIPE
- Justin Pipe has earned qualification for the World Matchplay for the first time since 2017. Prior to that he had made seven consecutive appearances in the tournament and reached the quarter-finals on two occasions.
- The last of Pipe’s quarter-final appearances came in 2013 when he was a regular in the big tournaments but in recent years he has only featured sporadically on TV due to his slide down the rankings.
- His preparation for the 2020 World Matchplay has been far from ideal as he suffered early exits in the opening three days of the Summer Series and then pulled out of the final two days with an arm injury so it remains to be seen how match-fit he is for this game.
THE PREDICTION
Gary Anderson is not as consistently good as he was when claiming this title in 2018 but a player of his ability cannot be discounted easily when looking at the potential winner of the big tournaments and he looks to have some of the hunger back which was missing in 2019. The Scotsman is predicted to make a strong start to his 2020 World Matchplay campaign against Justin Pipe who struggled with an arm injury at the Summer Series which caused him to miss the last couple of days of action. Even a fully-fit Pipe would have his hands full at trying to contain the 2018 champion but his chances of claiming an upset are even slimmer now. Anderson has struggled against slower-paced players at times in his career but he has won his last six matches against Pipe and is tipped to increase that winning sequence whilst also beating the -3.5 handicap.