The first block of matches in the Premier League Darts competition takes place in the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Friday evening when the 10 players grace the stage one last time for a week or so.
We saw a second nine darter on Thursday night and an absolute barrel load of 180s and great darts and it would be a surprise if we end the week with anything different to that now that the players have all settled into their work.
Gary Anderson vs Jonny Clayton
The last night of the week begins with one of the nine dart heroes of the week as Jonny Clayton looks to end with a flourish when he takes on a Gary Anderson who is going quietly about his work in the competition so far.
I think it is fair to say that we haven’t seen the best of Anderson in this campaign yet but the standard we have seen has been more than acceptable and has allowed him to pick up a couple of wins. We have certainly seen the best of Clayton though, although that wasn’t the case on Thursday when he let himself down a little in defeat to Rob Cross. It might just have been that the magnitude of his nine dart achievement of the night before got to him. Either way other than a relatively tight match nothing really stands out here.
Peter Wright vs Rob Cross
The second match of the evening sees a couple of former world champions battling it out when the 2020 winner of that title meets the 2018 champion as Peter Wright goes up against Rob Cross in a game both players will be looking to win.
Wright has been a little more up and down than he would have liked this week. When he’s been good he has come through with victories but when he has been indifferent he has looked vulnerable. Cross has been the more consistent of the two, certainly in maintaining a level of performance, if not the results that he has picked up. If Cross had the throw here I might have chanced him on a handicap or something but unfortunately he doesn’t and the 7-4 score is too much of a danger to get involved here.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall
The most intriguing match of the night is the middle one where Michael van Gerwen will go in search of a win to end an up and down week when he takes on Nathan Aspinall, the beaten finalist of last season who was involved in an amazing match on Thursday.
Aspinall watched on as Jose de Sousa hit a nine darter and threw 11 180s at him and still he held his nerve to pick up what could be a massive point when we look back come the end of the regular season. Van Gerwen was very disappointing on Thursday night and was soundly beaten by a James Wade who hadn’t pulled up any trees himself to that point. Van Gerwen’s frailty has certainly been there for all to see this week and he looks like he could be there for the taking for Aspinall, who has been among the most impressive players this week. I think the odds against on Aspinall or the draw double chance has plenty of legs here.
James Wade vs Glen Durrant
The penultimate match of the week sees James Wade looking to end with successive victories when he takes on a Glen Durrant who will be fighting hard to avoid going the whole week without a point after four pretty drab efforts thus far.
Wade has been the epitome of inconsistent this week but when he has been good he has looked pretty good but his bad has been quite bad. The latter part of that equation certainly holds true for Durrant but sadly for the defending champion there hasn’t been much to enjoy for him this week and already his title defence looks in absolute tatters. You’ve got to think based on what we’ve seen from Durrant this week that Wade wins this but I’m in no mood to be chasing handicaps with Wade’s inconsistency.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Jose de Sousa
It might well be that the final match of the week is the pick of the matches on the last night of action in this block as the classy Dimitri Van den Bergh takes on a Jose de Sousa who has lit up his debut campaign with some dazzling darts already this week.
Van den Bergh has probably been the player of the week so far and that is reflected by him beginning the night on top of the table. The longer the week has gone on though the more convincing that de Sousa has got. He was exceptional on Thursday evening and might still be wondering how he didn’t come away with a win against Aspinall but a repeat of that performance would give him every chance here.
These two are the biggest 180 hitters in the tournament so far and I’m expecting plenty more from the two here as well. De Sousa is averaging five 180s a match and comes in here having smashed in 11 of them on Thursday but quietly Van den Bergh is scoring very well as well. He hit eight on Thursday to take his tally to the week to 19. I’m a little surprised that we can get a fair price on the 7.5 180s here given that both covered it with their own darts on Thursday. I like the over here.
Tips
WON – Back N.Aspinall/Draw double chance for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betway
WON – Back D.Van den Bergh vs J.de Sousa – Over 7.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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