The second night of action in the Premier League Darts season comes along hot on the heels of the first as the 10 players involved in the competition are back on the stage on Tuesday evening to battle for more points for the league table.
The opening night of action was one which was full of draws, with four of the five matches ending all square. Nathan Aspinall was the only winner on Monday and it is he who tops the table heading into the Tuesday session.
Gary Anderson vs Jose de Sousa
The opening match of the night looks like being an entertaining one between two of the eight men who came away from their opener with a point as Gary Anderson takes on the Grand Slam winner Jose de Sousa.
These two drew their opening matches but one will be content with their point and the other probably more disappointed. Anderson had to check out 156 in the final leg of his match with James Wade to seal his point whereas de Sousa let a 6-4 lead slip and couldn’t get over the line with the throw in the last leg so he may well feel as though his is a point dropped rather than one gained. Both men scored very well but let themselves down a little on their doubles. You sense if there is a winner here it will be the one who has tidied up their finishing who will come out on top.
I’m not interested in guessing who that will be, but I do expect this to be a close match and one where we could easily see all 12 legs. That makes me think there will be enough time for de Sousa to cover a 3.5 180 line for a second night in a row. I expect him to score better here anyway given that he has blown any cobwebs away and he is one of the heaviest scorers in the game. He hit four 180s in the 12 legs against Cross on Monday, although that was in 10 legs really because he fell apart in the last two. Anderson offers up a better rhythm so I like de Sousa to nail another four 180s here.
Jonny Clayton vs Glen Durrant
The second match of the evening sees the man who registered the highest average on the opening day taking on the player who recorded the lowest average on that night as Jonny Clayton takes on the defending champion Glen Durrant.
Clayton was incredibly impressive in his 6-6 draw with Peter Wright, a draw which given how well he played he might feel as though he should have come away with better. The same certainly can’t be said of Durrant who was below ordinary in defeat to Nathan Aspinall on the first night and who showed plenty of the concerns everyone had for him going into the competition, in that he is low in confidence and his game is not in the best of shape right now.
Durrant will come back to form at some point because he’s too good not to, however to expect it to be within 24hrs of such a poor display would be pushing it. Clayton is in tip top form at the minute so I expect him to win here and by virtue of the fact that Durrant’s darts were laying down a lot on Monday causing him to switch I would expect the Welshman to hit the most 180s as well. Logic would dictate that if Clayton wins, and potentially wins well, he will have the better chance at the highest checkout so I’ll chance the match treble for Clayton here.
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Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Nathan Aspinall
The third match of the night could be one of the better ones as Dimitri Van den Bergh looks to build on his fine draw against Michael van Gerwen on the opening night when he takes on the runner up from last season in Nathan Aspinall, Monday’s only winner.
Aspinall won on Monday night and his numbers were not bad but I think he knew from a fairly early stage that he was the best player on the stage at that time and took confidence from that. It will be interesting to see how he goes if he is put under pressure, which he very well could be here. Van den Bergh got a good van Gerwen on Monday and largely dominated him, only to come away with a draw when he might have felt he deserved more. Based on what we saw on Monday I would expect Van den Bergh to win here but the draw is very much in play so I’ll sit this one out.
Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright
The match of the second night of the season is without doubt the penultimate match which sees the five time winner of the competition Michael van Gerwen taking on the man with whom a bit of a grudge has been built up with over time in the charismatic Peter Wright.
Both men played well on the opening evening of action and they were forced to do so by opponents who came flying out of the blocks and you get the feeling these two will bring the best out of each other as well. While they both played well there was that air of vulnerability about MVG that has been there for the last year. I wonder if Wright will be able to capitalise on that and as such he could be value in the match albeit I’m always a little reluctant to take the ‘away’ player as they are often the one under pressure. This should be good enough to watch without placing a bet.
James Wade vs Rob Cross
The final match of the night looks like being a fairly even one as the UK Open champion James Wade takes on the man who formerly won the world title in Rob Cross, both of whom will be looking to build on draws in their first match.
You would imagine there will be a good deal of improvement in Wade given that he only found out he was in the tournament the night before it started whereas Cross might well take a bit of confidence from a decent performance against Jose de Sousa on Monday evening and a good comeback to seal a draw against an opponent who will most likely upset a number of the big names in the competition between now and its conclusion.
I’m not sure who will win here. I think the draw is very much in play, but the bet I like is over 5.5 180s in this one. Both men hit six 180s on Monday night so they have shown they can cover this line on their own. Wade is hitting a lot more 180s than he used to these days whereas the Cross throw looked so much better on Monday which will give him a lot of scoring confidence. We should see this one go 11 or 12 legs and as a result I think we’ll get half a dozen 180s out of these two.
Tips
Back J.de Sousa – Over 3.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Clayton to win, most 180s and highest checkout for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Betfair (Price boost section)
Back J.Wade vs R.Cross – Over 5.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back them here:
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