The second half of the Premier League Darts campaign gets underway in Belfast on Thursday evening when the remaining eight players battle it out with spots in the final four at the o2 Arena next month the only focus of attention.
The format changes from here on in and each match is the best of 14 legs so the first to eight or a 7-7 draw which just gives the players that little bit longer to find their rhythm. It means each match is more likely to have added twists and turns.
Get £10 in free bets when you bet £25 on sports bets in a week with Coral. Click the image above to bet but make sure you opt in. All customers! 18+ T&Cs apply
Mensur Suljovic vs James Wade
The second half of the season begins with two men deeply involved in the top four race meeting as Mensur Suljovic goes up against James Wade with the winner ensured of being in the play-off spots at the end of the night and the loser not so.
Suljovic did a bit of a job on Wade in their reverse meeting which will give him some confidence but he was given a bit of a going over by Daryl Gurney last week and hasn’t averaged any more than 92 in his last two games. He won two weeks ago against Rob Cross but he should have been well beaten from 5-1 behind.
Wade has been going really well in 2019 but he has been beaten by Suljovic on the European Tour since their last Premier League meeting too. If Suljovic convinced me in this I would chance him here but this is a classic no bet tie for me.
Michael Smith vs Peter Wright
The bottom two meet in the second match of the night as Michael Smith takes on Peter Wright in a clash neither can afford to lose if they want to keep the pressure off them in the race for a place at the o2.
There hasn’t been much that has been convincing about either of these men in this campaign and already you get the feeling that whoever is best on the night will win. There was no separating them in the first meeting between the two and given what is at stake it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if this one ends all square too. Nothing stands out to me here in truth.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney
Two of the top four meet in the penultimate match of the night in what should be a high quality contest between two players who are in good form and have their eyes set on going deep in this tournament from here on in, as Rob Cross takes on Daryl Gurney.
Cross bet Jeffrey de Zwaan in the second of the two nights in Rotterdam last week which wasn’t a bad effort after his collapse against Suljovic the night before but missed doubles are beginning to become a factor of his game. Gurney won both his matches in Rotterdam and only dropped four legs in the process and he has since followed that up with his maiden European Tour success.
These two met in the quarter final in Hildesheim at the weekend and Gurney won 6-2. It was Cross who won 7-1 in their reverse Premier League meeting but Gurney wasn’t going at all well then. He is now and he’s in front of a home crowd here so I’ve got to think he can avoid defeat here at the very least, if not pick up the win.
Michael van Gerwen vs Gerwyn Price
The final match of the night sees the league leader heading into the contest in action as Michael van Gerwen takes on a Gerwyn Price whose good start to the season has levelled out somewhat in recent weeks.
Price did win last week but it was a low key contest against Peter Wright and he’ll certainly need a huge improvement on that if he is to better his 7-2 defeat to MVG in the reverse meeting between the two. Van Gerwen was back to his better form against Barneveld last week to complete a Rotterdam double where he dropped just two legs.
These two have now met on 15 occasions and van Gerwen has won the lot. Their last four meetings he has a leg advantage of 26-13 so it is hard to see how Price is competitive here unless MVG has a real off day. The 3.5 leg handicap is probably about right though so I’m happy to sit this one out too.
Tips
Back D.Gurney (+1.5 legs) to beat R.Cross for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
