The Unibet Premier League moves to Wales for the third night of the season, an evening when Jonny Clayton performs as the challenger inside the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, as the nine competitors go in search for two more valuable points.
We are only two weeks into the season but already only one man has a 100% record while only one player is yet to register a point, which signifies a strong and competitive season on the horizon, of which we should see plenty more of on Thursday.
Peter Wright vs Rob Cross
The opening match of the evening sees the last two beaten finalists in this competition going at it when the current world champion Peter Wright faces a former holder of that title in Rob Cross in arguably the heavyweight showdown of the night.
Wright was expected to dominate the early stages of the tournament after fine wins in the World Championship and The Masters but he has come away from his two outings with just a solitary point. Cross was expected to struggle this term, with his form in the gutter going in, but he has a win and a draw from his matches. I sense Wright is ready to kick into gear. He was putting in some insane averages in the Players Championship events but he’s fairly short given he hasn’t won. I’ll leave this one alone.
Jonny Clayton vs Michael Smith
The second match of the night will be the first one where the Welsh supporters can get their tonsils warmed up as one of two home players on the evening takes to the stage as the third Challenger of the event, Jonny Clayton, takes on Michael Smith.
Smith has one point from his two matches but he’ll probably still be wondering how on earth that is the case as yet more missed darts at a double cost him a win over Gerwyn Price in Nottingham last week. He is odds on to win this, and while he should win it at a canter I’m going nowhere near a man who can’t seem to hit a winning double in relatively normal circumstances let alone when he has a crowd against him. Clayton could be called value given he beat MVG on a stage three weeks ago but no Challenger has ever won in this tournament. That’s enough of a swerve point for me.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall
The middle match of the five on show on the night sees the defending champion Michael van Gerwen looking to maintain his 100% record against the debutant Nathan Aspinall who will be looking for a second win in three games.
Aspinall hasn’t really played well in this tournament yet. I’m not massively surprised by that, that is normal for debutants here, but he’ll need to play well if he is going to get anything at all out of this one. I wouldn’t say that van Gerwen is in top form at the minute but he is two from two in the Premier League and you sense his confidence will only increase from here on in. I expect MVG to win this but at the odds I’ll let him do so if he is good enough.
Daryl Gurney vs Gerwyn Price
The other Welsh player on show takes to the stage in the penultimate match of the evening when Gerwyn Price faces Daryl Gurney in a match which could easily turn into something akin to WWE if one of them gets a bit feisty!
Gurney is yet to pick up a point in the tournament, although from 5-2 up against Anderson on the opening week that is the very least he should have got. Price has a couple of draws so far and while the crowds will be behind him here, he has had to come from behind to claim a point in both his matches so I’m not sure I want to be on him at odds on throwing second I have to say. Surprisingly though you can get 8/11 on over 5.5 180s in this match and given the way they both score and their desperation to win I expect to see good scoring here. I fancy that to be covered.
Glen Durrant vs Gary Anderson
The final match of the night sees Glen Durrant taking on Gary Anderson in a battle that we might look back on towards the end of the competition and think that was key to qualification for the o2 Arena.
Both men have a win and a draw from their opening two matches. Durrant will have wanted a win over Fallon Sherrock last week but from 6-4 down a draw was a good result. I expect him to be a lot better here. Anderson beat Daryl Gurney in week one and drew with Peter Wright last week and while he is getting back to where we would expect him to be form wise, he isn’t quite there yet.
With Durrant throwing first I fancy we are going to see all 12 legs here. I’m not convinced Anderson loses the match but I don’t see him winning with plenty to spare or anything like that so 6-6 or if Anderson does win 5-7 looks to have every chance. At odds against I’ll take the option that we see more than 11.5 legs in this match.
Tips
Back D.Gurney vs G.Price – Over 5.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Coral
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Back G.Durrant vs G.Anderson – Over 11.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
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