The Premier League Darts event rolls into Exeter on Thursday night for the fourth week of the campaign. The competition was cancelled here last year after heavy snow put paid to the show so the crowds inside the Westpoint Arena should be full of excitement.
World Championship star Luke Humphries is the contender on show in Devon with the highlight of the evening being the repeat of The Masters final from earlier in the year. Each point means plenty now so a competitive night awaits us.
Sign up to 888sport BEFORE Saturday, bet £10 on anything to get a £5 free bet on EACH of Saturday’s Premier League fixtures – £35 free bets! Click the image above to bet. Use code PL35. 18+ New accounts only. T&Cs apply
Luke Humphries vs Gerwyn Price
The opening match of the night sees the contender against the form horse as Luke Humphries takes on Gerwyn Price over the 12 leg distance. As ever Price is the one under pressure given that he is playing for Premier League points.
These two have only met once and Humphries won that 6-1 in a European Tour event last year but Price arrives in Exeter having won both the Players Championship events at the weekend to add to his three match unbeaten streak in this tournament. Humphries had a wonderful World Championship and could raise his game for the big stage again but he has won three matches in six Players Championship events so far in 2019 so all things being equal, with the way he is playing the 8/11 on Price should be free money.
Daryl Gurney vs Rob Cross
The second match of the evening sees the current holder of the Players Championship Finals title in Daryl Gurney facing the former world champion Rob Cross who will be looking to bounce back from his battering by Michael van Gerwen last week.
Gurney lost his opening match of the campaign but some excellent finishing has seen him win both matches since then and he will fancy his chances of a third win here. We’ll probably only truly know how much to take from Cross’ defeat to MVG once we have seen him in action in this match. You’d have to think there is a good chance of a draw here and I hate betting on those close looking matches so I’ll sit this one out.
Mensur Suljovic vs Peter Wright
Mensur Suljovic goes in search of a much needed first Premier League win when he takes on a Peter Wright who somehow carries an unbeaten record in the competition into this match despite the statistics being wholeheartedly against that possibility.
Suljovic has twice averaged more than 100 this season but his only point came against Raymond Barneveld last week and even that would probably have felt like a defeat. Wright has a couple of draws to his name and a win over Steve Lennon last week. Suljovic has won five of the last six meetings between these two men so could be a shade of value but I don’t think there is enough in it to convince me to bet.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Michael van Gerwen vs James Wade
The pick of the matches on the evening is the penultimate match on the stage as the runaway leader Michael van Gerwen takes on a back in form James Wade. Both men are looking to push on and make the semi-final so the points will be handy for whoever wins.
Van Gerwen has looked unstoppable in this competition so far but if there is one man in the field who could trouble him it is Wade. If there has been a weakness in the Dutchman so far it has been a series of missed doubles and if that continues Wade will be right there. I expect MVG to win but I’m not going to plough into him to win or cover a handicap and then watch a bunch more doubles get missed so this is a no bet for me too.
Michael Smith vs Raymond Barneveld
Two men in desperate need of the points meet in the final match of the night as Michael Smith takes on Raymond Barneveld with both of them looking for their first win. With Judgement Night beginning to loom on the horizon a win here could be significant.
We haven’t seen the best of either of these two men in the competition so far but this should be the night that Smith gets his campaign back on track. He has won two of the last three meetings between these two without dropping a leg and with the throw to begin with, if he can get out of the blocks quickly he could be away and gone before Barneveld gets into a position to do anything about it. I’ll take the chance on the world finalist.
Tips
Back G.Price to beat L.Humphries for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Spreadex
WON – Back M.Smith to beat R.Barneveld for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfair
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
