The second night of action in the resumption of the Premier League Darts season takes place on Wednesday and it is the last session before Judgement Night arrives inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
We saw some wonderful action on Tuesday evening which tightened up both ends of the table nicely and should have set up some competitive nights of darts for the remainder of the week, beginning with a very juicy looking night on Wednesday.
Gary Anderson vs Gerwyn Price
The evening begins with the two men who have a bit of fire and hatred for each other battling it out for valuable points when Gary Anderson takes on Gerwyn Price in the latest clash between the two since that ill-fated Grand Slam final of a couple of years ago.
These two had very different performances and results on the first night back on Tuesday. Anderson was ruthless and brutal in beating Michael Smith while Price was nowhere near as good and took a bit of a beating from Nathan Aspinall. That loss for price is a concern there is no hiding that. He has clearly struggled since the crowds were taken away and I fear for him here. I think Anderson is ready to go from strength to strength now. He has made the final of the Home Tour and the World Matchplay since lockdown started and looked good on Tuesday. I’m always wary of the draw the week, or in this occasion night, after one where there hasn’t been many draws but Anderson is a decent enough price on the draw no bet line and that is where my bet comes here.
Nathan Aspinall vs Daryl Gurney
The second match of the evening is another huge one for Daryl Gurney. He takes on one of the two debutants in the field in Nathan Aspinall knowing that if he wins he’ll come off the bottom of the table for a short while at least, while Aspinall has his eyes on a top four finish from here.
Aspinall was very good in defeating Gerwyn Price on Tuesday night and a repeat of that display might well be good enough to get the job done here. Gurney picked up a much needed win to latch himself onto the group of players at the foot of the table but he’ll need to elevate his game markedly if he is going to compete in this sort of company as it is hard to believe that Aspinall will be as poor as Dobey was on Tuesday. It might be that the better standard raises the game of Gurney naturally. It will certainly need to but I’m not yet at the level in this tournament whereby I am ready to take Aspinall at odds on so I’ll sit this one out.
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Michael Smith vs Rob Cross
Two men who were well beaten on Tuesday night battle it out in the third game of the evening on Wednesday when Michael Smith goes up against Rob Cross in a match neither will want to lose but particularly Cross, who is teetering above the drop zone with two nights of action left.
Smith actually played very well against Gary Anderson on Tuesday but some badly timed missed doubles cost him dearly. He has to think if he repeats that display it will be more than good enough here, although it is hard to assess the form of Cross because he ran into a bit of a machine like performance from Michael van Gerwen last night. There could be improvement to come from Cross naturally so I’m reluctant to get involved in this one although the 180s is tempting me. I’ll sit this one out though.
Michael van Gerwen vs Glen Durrant
There is no doubt about which is the pick of the matches on the second night of action this week, in fact this one might be the match of the tournament so far as the top two meet when Michael van Gerwen takes on Glen Durrant in a very juicy looking tussle.
Both men had positive results on Tuesday night. MVG had a good win over Rob Cross and appeared very confident in his interview and press conferences after that victory. Durrant drew with the world champion Peter Wright in a match he had the better of but just couldn’t pull away from the Scot, so both should be feeling good about their chances in this one. It is a slightly weird statistic that Durrant has played MVG twice and won both times – 7-2 in a floor semi-final and 13-11 in the World Matchplay last year, so there might be something the Green Machine doesn’t like about playing Duzza. This is a match to watch and savour rather than bet especially when you take that record into account.
Peter Wright vs Jeffrey de Zwaan
We have to wait until the final match of the night for the penultimate contender of the season to play as Jeffrey de Zwaan gets another well-earned moment in the spotlight. He takes on the world champion Peter Wright who will be eager for the two points to bolster his challenge towards the top end of proceedings.
Wright wasn’t perfect in his 6-6 draw against Durrant on Tuesday but that match did blow away any rust that might have formed and highlighted that he is in good form. De Zwaan hasn’t played since he lost in the first round of the World Matchplay and the issues he is having with his elbow are well known and have clearly had a negative impact on his game. We saw that at the Matchplay and to be fair it had been evident for a long time before then too. I expect Wright to win this match and with the throw it makes perfect sense for him to cover a 2.5 leg handicap at a perfectly acceptable price.
Tips
Back G.Anderson to beat G.Price (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back P.Wright (-2.5 legs) to beat J.de Zwaan for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Bet365
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