It has taken a while to get there but Judgement Night in the Premier League Darts season has finally arrived. It was due to take place in front of a raucous crowd in Rotterdam but instead will go ahead behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Thursday.
At the end of the evening we will lose someone from the competition with Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney the two men who could be eliminated. As ever we have five matches which includes a contender, who on this occasion is Jermaine Wattimena, so we are in for a good and dramatic night of darts.
Nathan Aspinall vs Michael Smith
The opening match of the night sees the two men either side of the top four line battling it out when Nathan Aspinall in fifth takes on Michael Smith who begins the evening in fourth place in the table, in a match which could give us an early indication as to who will make the top four at the end of the season.
Both these men have had a win and a defeat since the restart. Ironically both have won with 97 averages and both have lost with 103 averages. What that suggests to me is that they are well matched in this stranger environment so this is a match which could very easily go all the way unless someone has a mare on their doubles. I’m not going to pick the winner of an even contest but it does suggest to me that we have plenty of scope for 180s. Smith has hit 12 180s in the last two nights and Aspinall has hit eight. Both hit five on Wednesday so they are scoring very nicely at the minute. There was a Grand Slam match last year between the two where they hit seven 180s in six legs. In these conditions that ratio should be maintained so over 6.5 180s looks a real runner here.
Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
The big match of the night in terms of profile and ability of the players on show is the second one when Michael van Gerwen gets a rare early start when he faces former nemesis Gary Anderson in what should be a pearler of a contest.
Both these men have picked up a convincing win and a pretty big loss since the restart so one of them is going to move forward in positive fashion. The match is probably bigger for Anderson who sits just outside the top four at the minute so he is probably chuffed to bits that this one got moved away from a partisan Dutch crowd, especially as van Gerwen hasn’t really convinced behind closed doors yet. This one is going to come down to who is more clinical on the doubles and I fancy that might be Anderson but we would be guessing on that. It is a good enough match to sit back and watch rather than bet on.
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Jermaine Wattimena vs Gerwyn Price
The match which features the contender is the third one on the schedule when the Dutch World Cup player Jermaine Wattimena gets the behind closed doors treatment as he takes on Gerwyn Price, who needs one leg to be certain of being safe but who is sure to survive in all reality.
Price will be looking to make big strides and go on a run of wins to push for a place in the top four but even though he walloped Gary Anderson on Wednesday night, he doesn’t look comfortable in this setup at all. That might give Wattimena a chance of doing something here but you’ve got to think it is going to be hard for him to have been cooped up in the bubble for 25 minutes work so even his motivation might be an issue. I can’t really be getting involved in this one.
Peter Wright vs Daryl Gurney
Two men who are yet to taste defeat since the return of the competition meet in the penultimate game of the night and this is where Judgement Night really begins as Peter Wright takes on the relegation threatened Daryl Gurney in a key encounter.
Three points from his two matches this week has seen the world champion move up to third in the table and he’ll consolidate that position if he can find the win here. Gurney started the week in a seemingly hopeless position in terms of survival but successive wins have not only given him a fighting chance but his fate is actually in his own hands. If ‘Superchin’ wins here he will be safe and not just playing the rest of the season but only two points off the top four such is how congested things are in the table at the minute. Both men will want to win so this should be a cracker but from a betting point of view little stands out.
Glen Durrant vs Rob Cross
The final match of the first phase of the campaign sees the current table topper Glen Durrant taking on the man who is bottom of the pile heading into Judgement Night in Rob Cross, a player who could actually be relegated before he steps onto the stage if Gurney wins the match before this one.
These two men are in completely different places with their game right now. Durrant is buzzing and is a player very much on the up. He has shown that throughout the last 18 months, not least on Wednesday night when he beat Michael van Gerwen. Cross is on the downward spiral. His throwing action is completely out of sync and it might be more beneficial for him to be relegated and go away to work on that rather than have another eight nights of this where he is constantly under the microscope.
I’m rarely an odds on backer in this tournament but I have to make the exception here. Durrant just has way too much in hand on Cross at the minute, and while there is a concern of the natural comedown that comes from beating MVG, Durrant has done that before and won the next match so I’m not convinced it is a huge issue here. What is an issue for Cross fans is that his two averages this week have been 89.48 and 93.61 compared to the 102.43 and 104.43 for Durrant. Duzza has a good 10pts on Cross at the minute and with the throw in the first leg he can pile the pressure on Cross who has to win to survive. I don’t see a Cross win here. I expect Durrant to put him out of his misery.
Tips
WON – Back N.Aspinall vs M.Smith – Over 6.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Sky Bet
WON – Back G.Durrant to beat R.Cross for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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