The second night of the two at the Rotterdam Ahoy was scheduled to be ‘Judgement Night’ but we already know the outcome of the relegation in the Premier League Darts season so now it is all about the race to the top four on Thursday night.
Raymond van Barneveld has been confirmed as the man who will be eliminated from the competition after Thursday’s action but he will be looking to go out with a bang when he takes on Michael van Gerwen in the pick of the matches.
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Daryl Gurney vs Mensur Suljovic
The action begins with two winners from Wednesday evening taking to the stage. Daryl Gurney was an authoritative winner against the aforementioned Barneveld while Suljovic came from the clouds to see off Rob Cross in an amazing contest.
The Austrian could be forgiven for wondering how he won that match having trailed 5-1 but Cross eased up and missed a plethora of doubles and Suljovic took advantage in style. I doubt Gurney will do that though. He needs the points badly here and is actually playing some nice stuff. Suljovic was so bad at the start of the match against Cross that he failed to average 90 come the end. Gurney didn’t average 90 either but he gets the benefit of the doubt in that he was involved in an emotionally charged contest.
Suljovic still doesn’t convince me in this environment whereas much like last year, after a slow start Gurney looks to be coming good again. A win here will propel him right into the top four battle and I fancy he can get it. He’s good value on the draw no bet line in this one I believe.
Peter Wright vs Gerwyn Price
Two men who lost on Wednesday evening make up the second game onto the stage on Thursday as Peter Wright takes on Gerwyn Price in what is a pretty big match in the race for finals night at the o2 even this early in the campaign.
Wright was given a good hiding by Michael van Gerwen but at least he ran into the Green Machine in hot form. Price might be more concerned that Michael Smith didn’t do much special against him and still turned him over. A whole host of missed doubles by the Welshman contributed to that and that is something that is seeping into his game. I fancy Wright to win this one but I’m in no rush to back someone who lost 7-1 the night before so I’ll let him win if good enough.
Rob Cross vs Jeffrey de Zwaan
The middle match of the evening sees our contender for the night in action as Jeffrey de Zwaan gets the chance to take to the stage in front of his own people when he clashes with the former world champion Rob Cross.
It will be interesting to see how Cross goes here. He was flying at 5-1 against Suljovic on Wednesday evening, with a bucket load of good results behind him recently so it will be interesting to see if that was just a blip or if a rot is going to set in. e Zwaan hasn’t hit the heights of the World Matchplay last year just yet but he showed in that tournament just what a force he can be and if he’s in that form Cross will have to watch out. Nevertheless no contender has won a match yet so I’m expecting Cross to win but after Wednesday night I’m not backing him to do so.
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Raymond van Barneveld vs Michael van Gerwen
The final assignment for Raymond van Barneveld in his Premier League career is an all-Dutch clash in front of a huge Rotterdam crowd against the world champion and table topper Michael van Gerwen on what should be a great occasion and hopefully a great match to boot.
All eyes will be on Barney to see if he has one last hurrah to depart with. To be fair he usually has a real good go at MVG with nothing to lose but he’s out of the tournament now so there is the danger he could be flat as a pancake as a result. Van Gerwen will know the situation. He’s the only one playing for anything but this is an occasion for us spectators to cherish rather than bet on.
James Wade vs Michael Smith
Two Englishmen round off the night when James Wade takes on Michael Smith in a match where both men picked up points on Wednesday evening and will be looking for more in this second part of the Rotterdam double header.
It might be that now he is officially safe Smith relaxes a little and lets his best darts come out but he might need to because Wade was hitting 180s on Wednesday as if the 60 was the size of a barn door and we know that more often than not he’ll accompany his scoring with good finishing. Smith got a good win over Price on Wednesday night but you would be lying if you said he was anything special in that match.
I like Wade here. He was the better of the two on Wednesday night and his head-to-head advantage over Smith reads 12-3 and that includes him winning 11 of their last 12 matches. I wouldn’t say Smith is beaten before he goes on stage but both men will know that record. The way Wade is playing and with that behind him I’m on him here albeit without the draw after a couple of long nights.
Tips
WON – Back D.Gurney to beat M.Suljovic (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Wade to beat M.Smith (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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