The penultimate night of the first stage of the league phase action in the Premier League Darts season takes place inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Wednesday evening as the race to avoid elimination on Judgement Night continues.
Those who are yet to secure their safety through to the second stage will be eager for the points on Wednesday to avoid a nervous and tense Thursday evening, while the players who have no elimination worries are after the points to enhance their top four credentials.
Rob Cross vs Nathan Aspinall
The evening begins with a huge match for Rob Cross as he looks to avoid elimination on Thursday evening. In order to do that he might need to win his last two matches beginning with this opener against Nathan Aspinall, a player who will move to the top of the table with a win here.
Cross has lost both his matches this week but he certainly hasn’t thrown bad darts. He has averaged around the 100 mark on both occasions but timing has been against him. Even then though Aspinall has thrown better darts than he and he has picked up three points to add to his tally and will be looking for a couple more here. I just thought Aspinall’s scoring left him a touch on Tuesday which is enough of a concern for me here, although I still think he’ll win, but given that Cross will be all out for points in this one I’m happy to leave it alone.
Gary Anderson vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The second match of the evening is a repeat of the World Matchplay final of last year which Gary Anderson went into as a warm favourite to come out on top in but couldn’t land a blow on the eventual winner Dimitri Van den Bergh.
I expect this to be a cracking contest between two very fluent players. Anderson has gone a little under the radar this week due to the darts being thrown but the likes of Van den Bergh, de Sousa and Aspinall but we should remember his only loss in four came to a Jonny Clayton who was rampant in that opening week. Van den Bergh has won both his matches this week and is regularly clocking in the 100+ averages in this tournament, something I don’t expect to change here. I wouldn’t be surprised if Van den Bergh wins this match but he occasionally has the odd missed double in him which Anderson can take advantage of. I think over the 12 legs I’d rather be on the Belgian here but the draw is a huge runner. Given Van den Bergh throws second if he does win it is most likely to be 7-5 so to have that and the draw in play I’ll take over 11.5 legs in this one.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Jose de Sousa
There is interest in a lot of the matches on Wednesday evening but the one with most on it might well be the middle game as Michael van Gerwen is the latest to take on the scoring machine that is Jose de Sousa.
De Sousa has found himself on a real roll in this tournament having won his last three matches. He is smashing in 180s like they are going out of fashion but the big thing in his game in the main is the way he has been clocking his doubles and checkout combinations. If he puts the scoring power with clinical finishing there isn’t a player in the world who beats him and I include van Gerwen in that. Van Gerwen has been battling hard in this tournament and he will look to use the advantage of throw to put pressure on the Portuguese ace. These two played out a brilliant match at the UK Open last month and this one should be as good. Van Gerwen won that 10-9 and this could be just as close. I’m happy to watch this one rather than have to bet on it.
James Wade vs Jonny Clayton
The penultimate match of the night sees James Wade going up against Jonny Clayton in what might turn out to be an even better match than it looks on paper with both men having their sights firmly set on the points to get into the top four.
Wade was up and down to begin with in this tournament but he has won three of his last four, losing out only in the final leg of his match against Jose de Sousa earlier in the week. Clayton has gone the other way a little having flown out of the blocks. He has only won one of his last four so it might be that Wade is getting Clayton at the right time. In saying that, Clayton isn’t exactly throwing badly. He has just gone off the boil on his doubles. You sense that will come good again at some point and if it is here he could easily beat Wade. My gut tells me Wade is getting Clayton at the right time but the feeling isn’t strong enough to merit a bet.
Peter Wright vs Glen Durrant
The final match of the night is an incredibly big one for the former world champion Peter Wright. He faces the current Premier League title holder Glen Durrant, although the three-time BDO champ knows that he will be eliminated from the competition on Thursday evening.
Having lost both his matches this week, Wright goes into this match just one point off the drop zone so he really needs to win this match, especially with Cross meeting Durrant on Judgement Night. Anything other than a win for Wright will open the door for Cross, whether he has overtaken him earlier in this evening or not. Durrant has played a bit better this week without really ever threatening a victory but he can relax and let his arm go now and try to find some form over the next couple of nights. I still expect Wright to win this match but as with earlier in the week I’ve no real interest in chasing short prices or big handicaps, even more so here when Wright comes in having lost his last two.
Tips
WON – Back G.Anderson vs D.Van den Bergh – Over 11.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
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