The Premier League Darts tournament does the height of the British Isles this week as the roadshow moves from Exeter into Aberdeen for the fifth week of action in the tournament. Just four weeks remain before someone gets eliminated once Thursday’s session concludes so points are becoming important.
John Henderson is the contender in front of his fellow Scots at The BHGE Arena in Aberdeen and he faces the toughest challenge of them all against the world champion Michael van Gerwen. That concludes a tasty looking evening of action.
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Michael Smith vs Rob Cross
The night begins with a rerun of Sunday’s UK Open semi-final when Michael Smith takes on Rob Cross for two valuable points. Cross is in the top four after a fine start to the season while Smith is playing catch up and needs to get winning.
Cross won their semi-final at the weekend and I suspect he might get the better of the St Helens man here too, if for no other reason than Smith was clearly struggling with his medical issue all weekend and you wonder how much practice he will have been able to do in between. The odds pretty much reflect that though and so nothing appeals here.
Daryl Gurney vs James Wade
The second match of the evening sees Daryl Gurney taking on James Wade in a match which could have big implications on the overall picture of the top four of the table. Wade sits in second place and will go top for a couple of hours with a win here while Gurney would overtake him should he prevail in this match.
Wade has a hate hate relationship with the Granite City as he has lost his last five Premier League outings there which should give Gurney something to play with but I suspect the Northern Irishman isn’t as popular as he might be so the crowd could have an influence on this match. Bookmakers can’t split them, their head-to-head is 4-4 so the draw could be a runner here. I’ll sit this out.
Mensur Suljovic vs Gerwyn Price
The third match of the night sees two men either side of the top four cut off doing battle when Mensur Suljovic takes on the UK Open semi-finalist Gerwyn Price for two more extremely valuable points.
Suljovic is always hard to beat but Price was on a run of 20 matches unbeaten before being turned over by Nathan Aspinall on Sunday. He won both Players Championship events last weekend and is unbeaten in the Premier League. He also holds a 9-4 head-to-head advantage over the likeable Austrian.
I sense Suljovic isn’t quite at the very top of his form whereas Price is. He is going to get it both barrels from the crowd but I’m sure he is used to that now. He seems to be using that to his advantage these days and I expect him to run out the winner here.
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Raymond Barneveld vs Peter Wright
Two men who are in danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of the table will battle it out in the penultimate match of the evening when the ever popular Raymond Barneveld will take on the Scottish star Peter Wright for two big points.
Barneveld currently occupies the relegation place while Wright is only one point off the top four despite probably not being anywhere near his best in the competition thus far. He lost his unbeaten record last week and I wonder if he is playing well enough to come through here.
It is pretty clear that neither man is on top of their game right now. Both had terrible outings in the UK Open at the weekend so I’m a little surprised the odds are as skewed as they are here. Barneveld has the throw though so if he can get off to a decent start he should be able to labour to a result of some sort.
Michael van Gerwen vs John Henderson
The final match of the night sees Michael van Gerwen looking to bounce back from his disappointing defeat to James Wade last week when he faces John Henderson. You would think Henderson is in trouble here because not only did MVG lose last week but he lost his first match in the UK Open as well so he’ll be smarting.
Henderson does have a win over van Gerwen to his name but while he has been around a while the Premier League atmosphere will be new to him and in truth he is probably the least reliable or consistent of these qualifiers. MVG won’t lose this but it is guessing about how many he wins by. He could cover the handicap and he might not. My gut feeling is that he will but I prefer the better bets elsewhere.
Tips
WON – Back G.Price to beat M.Suljovic for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with Coral
Back him here:
Back R.Barneveld-Draw Double Chance for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with 888sport
Back it here:
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