The first run of Premier League darts upon the resumption of the event concludes on Sunday evening when night 12 of the competition is played out behind closed doors inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
After this session there will be just four regular season nights left for the players to push their way into the top four so every point is starting to count significantly from here on in, particularly with the table as congested as it currently is as just two points separate second and seventh heading into Sunday.
Nathan Aspinall vs Gary Anderson
The evening begins with what should be a decent match between two men who should both have won on Saturday night but in the form of Gary Anderson somehow didn’t. Anderson takes on Aspinall here in a clash which pits second against third going at it.
Aspinall had a weird win over Michael Smith on Saturday night but I’m sure he wasn’t complaining. He is certainly going to have to finish better in this match than he did in that one but that is perfectly possible. Anderson will still be wondering how he let a 7-3 lead slip against Glen Durrant to allow him to draw 7-7 but he can’t dwell on that here else he’ll get punished once again. Both these men are missing a few too many doubles for my liking so this one could go either way depending on who misses the least. I’ll sit the opener out.
Peter Wright vs Gerwyn Price
The second match of the evening sees the players ranked second and third in the PDC world rankings going at it when the world champion Peter Wright takes on Gerwyn Price in what is a repeat of last year’s Grand Slam of Darts final.
Wright goes into this match off the back of a magical nine dart leg against Daryl Gurney on Saturday evening but for as good as that leg was he lost the match and slipped down to fourth in the table as a result. Price was the latest in a growing line of players to see off Michael van Gerwen on Saturday evening and that has attached him to the pack in the chase for the top four. Both these players have reason to believe they will win this match.
I’m not going to stick my neck out and bet on who will win here but the over 7.5 180s line has hooked me in. Wright hit nine 180s on his own on Saturday evening and wasn’t short of them in defeat to Gary Anderson on Friday night either. Price is no stranger to filling the 60 up either and in a match which could easily go all the way I’ve got to think there will be eight 180s before they are done, especially in these conditions.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Michael Smith
The most intriguing match of the night could be the third one as last year’s World Championship finalists Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith take each other on with neither man currently occupying a spot in the top four of the Premier League table.
I’m not sure when we call MVGs run of form a crisis but we can’t be far away from that. Of the five matches he has played this week he has lost three and should have lost another with the only convincing win coming over Rob Cross who wasn’t at the races at all in this tournament. Smith hasn’t been great himself but his losses have been his own doing because he has suddenly started piling up the missed doubles, something he certainly can’t afford to do here.
Smith might not be hitting doubles very well at the minute but there is no disputing the number of 180s he is hitting. He has clattered them in this week, notching totals of seven, five, six, five and seven so the 45 180 line is clearly on the low side still. He isn’t going to beat MVG without scoring well but he’ll get a decent rhythm and I wouldn’t be surprised if he reaches his best tally of the week here. Either way I’m pretty confident he hits five more in this one.
Glen Durrant vs Daryl Gurney
The final match of the night is the battle between top of the league and bottom of it as Glen Durrant takes on Daryl Gurney. Durrant is probably only two wins away from sealing his spot on finals night whereas Gurney needs to win out to have a chance of being there.
Gurney made a good start in his quest to sweep the remainder of the season when he took care of the world champion Peter Wright on Saturday night, overcoming a nine darter and a barrage of 180s from the Scot to be victorious. Durrant won’t need telling he stole a point off Anderson on Saturday evening. I don’t expect him to play as badly again here but that doesn’t mean Durrant is a certainty to win. I expect him to win but he only won 7-5 in the reverse meeting between these two. Gurney is playing with enough freedom at the minute that he needs to be respected and although I think Durrant will win the odds are nothing special so I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
WON – Back P.Wright vs G.Price – Over 7.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back it here:
WON – Back M.Smith – Over 4.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back him here:
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