Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis all to win at 7/4

Coral are offering enhanced odds of 7/4 for former Premier League winner Gary Anderson to beat Stephen Bunting, 14-time World Matchplay champion Phil Taylor to see off Michael Smith and last year’s runner-up Adrian Lewis to overcome Mervyn King.

This is the second half of the second round of Blackpool’s famous oche event, and the trio are hoping to join Michael van Gerwen, Dave Chisnall, James Wade and Simon Whitlock into the quarter-finals.

Stephen Bunting v Gary Anderson
This duo will be bidding to get to the World Matchplay quarter-finals for the first time, but it is the Flying Scotsman and former Premier League champion who goes into this match as heavy 1/2 odds-on favourite.

Both players came through tough encounters in the first round, with Anderson overcoming Jamie Caven 10-8, and Bunting causing a shock by seeing off number six seed Peter Wright.

With unseeded The Bullet Bunting beating a higher profile opponent, it seems he is likely to be undone this time, despite winning his only previous battle with Anderson, back in 2005. The Scot is 10/1 to win the competition.

Phil Taylor v Michael Smith
Taylor has won this tournament an unprecedented 14 times and in each of the last six years, so that is why he is odds-on 1/4 favourite to win this match, and 11/4 to be champion again this year – behind only Van Gerwen in the betting.

On top of that, the duo have faced each other nine times before, with The Power being victorious in seven of them. Youngster Smith has never got past this stage in the World Matchplay, and now faces the daunting task of trying to knock out the greatest player in darting history.

Adrian Lewis v Mervyn King
Lewis came through his match in the first round in spectacular fashion, whitewashing Andrew Gilding 10-0 and averaging 110.51, and this is despite his opponent not even playing that badly. You can back Lewis, who is odds-on at 1/4 for victory, at 400/1 to beat King to nil as well (first to 13 this time).

“It could have been better I think, I missed that many 180s,” last year’s runner-up Lewis said after the match. “I’m pretty happy with my performance. I love this place. I finished well.”