PDC Home Tour Darts – Semi Final, Group 2 Predictions & Odds [June 4]

• Nathan Aspinall is unbeaten in the Home Event and our tip for the trophy
• Former world champ Rob Cross needs to raise his game to compete on Thursday
• If Joe Cullen finds his mojo he could be a contender and Jonny Clayton is up against it to make the top two

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We’ve reached the second semi-final of the innovative PDC Home Tour event and we’re down to the last six players standing. This round retains the best of 11 leg format, so it is first to six. The second semi-final is headlined by Nathan Aspinall and it is a group that also includes former PDC world champion Rob Cross, Joe Cullen, and Jonny Clayton. And remember, this time it is the top two that qualify for Friday’s Championship final.

Semi-Final Two Odds

Group win odds taken on June 4, from bet365 NJ.

Aspinall Headlines The Toughest Group To Call Yet

All four of Thursday evening’s semi-finalists are in the top 16 in the world and it is easy to make a case for any of them to progress to Friday’s Championship Final. The odds available for a group win reflect that there is little between the contenders.

Nathan Aspinall headlines the quartet and the world No. 7 carries some of our betting hopes after he was tipped to lift the trophy when +500. The 28-year-old cruised through the first round on Night 10 with three wins and he bagged another three successes in the second stage with wins over Jesus Noguera 6-4, Jamie Hughes 6-2, and Jose de Sousa 6-4.

The Asp averaged 89.26 from his Stockport home and remains a genuine title contender. He has the 2018 Players Championship and the 2019 UK Open in his trophy cabinet and reached the semi-final stage of the last two PDC World Championships. His career is on an upward curve and he started the year with a semi-final finish at the Masters.

Aspinall rightly starts Thursday evening as the favourite to win the group, but he’s going to have to be on his game. There is no room for an off-night.

Rob Cross Using Tragedy As Fuel

Rob Cross, at world No. 4, is the highest-ranked player left in the Home Event. The 2018 PDC world champion lost his grandfather to Covid-19 very recently and attended the funeral only three days before winning all three of his first round matches. He was not at his best in that early round and had to show fight to come through the second stage on leg difference. He beat Daniel Larsson 6-3 and Ryan Searle 6-4, before narrowly losing 6-5 to Luke Woodhouse – a defeat that preserved his leg difference.

The Voltage averaged 82.08 and 83.17 in the two rounds. That is well down on what you’d expect from the 29-year-old playing from Hastings. It certainly makes him vulnerable to a much stronger set of opponents on Thursday unless he raises his game. There is a caveat in that Cross is a competitor, but so far others that have reached the Last 8 have played more impressively.

Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton

Joe Cullen is a mercurial player who, so far, is blowing more hot than cold throughout the Home Event. The world No. 16 is playing in his shed at the bottom of his garden in Bradford and recently admitted to losing lockdown motivation. It appears tournament action has rejuvenated his competitive juices.

The 30-year-old, a semi-finalist at the 2018 European Championship, has used his second chance brilliantly. He was a runner up on leg difference behind Ryan Murray on Night 20 before winning all three matches on Night 31 with an average of 106.65. ‘The Rockstar’ has a real chance on Thursday evening if he is in the mood. On what we have seen so far his current mood is to be trusted.

Jonny Clayton was the last man to book his Last 8 berth as he followed three wins on Night 8 with another unbeaten second-stage display. The world No. 15 from Llanelli in South Wales averaged 92.33 in the first round and 99.24 on Tuesday evening as he beat Scott Waites 6-3, Max Hopp 6-3, and Carl Wilkinson 6-2. The 45-year-old was a finalist in the 2017 Players Championship Finals and won the PDC Austrian Darts Open in 2018. He’s rightly priced as the outsider on Thursday but will not be turning up to play second fiddle.

Our Pick

This is a highly competitive semi-final and, particularly if you took our tip for Nathan Aspinall to win the Home Event, there is not enough value in his price on Thursday. With Rob Cross not in top form, Joe Cullen is the betting play. A double on Cullen to beat Cross in the opening game at +137 and Jonny Clayton to beat Cross at +125 parlays up to a tasty double of +434.