Steve Beaton v Chris Dobey

This is one of the ties of the week for me, it’s a proper youth v experience clash. If Dobey wants to make the step to the next level, he needs to beat people like Beaton with ease. But the Coventry veteran won’t give him an easy game and it should be competitive from the off.

I’ve talked myself into backing Beaton, especially the more I look at his record on this stage. He’s won a match in his last three appearances at the Ally Pally, and five times in his last seven. I think this will be a bit of a grind, but the ‘Bronzed Adonis’ will show that he has life in him yet!

Steve Beaton - 1pt @ 6/5

Mervyn King v Jan Dekker

First off I want to state that Dekker will play better than he did against Lisa Ashton in the first round. King is another old-school campaigner, but he’s had some duff results in recent years here, none more so than his loss last year to Zoran Lerchbacher.

Bookies have King the marginal favourite but again I’m backing the underdog. Dekker has the talents to make a nice little run and will sooner rather than later show some of his BDO form in the PDC. 6/5 is value in my mind.

Jan Dekker - 1pt @ 9/8

Adrian Lewis v Ted Evetts

Evetts was pretty solid in winning his first match and I think he’ll give Jackpot a bit of a game here. We all know what happened to Lewis last year, and he’ll be doubly focused to avoid a repeat of ‘Munchgate’.

I’ve clocked Evetts +1.5 sets at 6/4 and for me this is the bet. I can see Evetts pushing a lot of sets to the wire, because his style tends to doggedly hanging in legs and matches. If it goes to a deciding leg, there's every chance he can get the job done. Let’s hope for a long one!

Evetts +1.5 - 1pt @ 6/4