Jonny Clayton vs Dimitri Van den Bergh Prediction: Clayton is clear in this matchup

Winter Gardens in Blackpool will host the Darts World Matchplay encounter between Jonny Clayton and Dimitri Van den Bergh in round ⅛. The odds are close here, but Clayton comes in as the favorite. Can Dimitri Van den Bergh prove a point here?

Jonny Clayton will come in as a favorite, and the Welsh international darts player will look to keep things running. Last time out, he played Raymond van Barneveld in the round 1/16 of this tournament, securing a 10-7 win. However, with that win, Jonny Clayton has extended his run of victories to 8 and will look to extend that with another win here. Jonny Clayton defeated Darren Beveridge, Andy Baetens, James Hurrell, Dom Taylor, Martin Schindler, Cameron Menzies, and Wesley Plaiseir in that run. Jonny Clayton lost just one of his last 13 games in this game from different competitions. 

Dimitri Van den Bergh returned to winning ways against Martin Schindler in round 1/16 of this tournament, and in this game, he hopes for a similar outcome. However, a look at his prior encounters to that win saw Dimitri Van den Bergh lose three consecutive games, losing to Josh Rock, Danny Jansen, and Simon Whitlock, each game coming in the Players Championship tournament. Yet, Dimitri Van den Bergh had a decent run of games to those defeats, winning 8 consecutive matches.

This is a tough one to predict, and we can expect the unbelievable here. Dimitri Van den Bergh won the last meeting of this fixture, but Jonny Clayton has had more wins. This should be a tight call, but a bet on high total legs is a good option. Also, Jonny Clayton is on a good run here, and with the performance he is pulling at the moment, I do not expect him to lose here.