The opening night of the new Premier League Darts season takes place behind closed doors in the setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Monday evening with the 10 competitors all looking for an early win in the competition.
The shake up has altered a little with the news that the world champion Gerwyn Price is out of the competition and that might add a new dynamic to the event. Five matches make up the schedule with each game the best of 12 legs.
Nathan Aspinall vs Glen Durrant
The new season begins with a repeat of the final from last term as Nathan Aspinall seeks a bit of revenge on the man who just outlasted him on the big night a few months ago in the form of Glen Durrant.
It is fair to say that the pair peaked that night because their form since has been largely terrible. Durrant has more of an excuse for his drop off given that he ran into Covid-19 which set him back. It could still be argued that he hasn’t fully recovered from it, on the oche at least. There are fewer excuses for Aspinall and in truth his slump in form was largely unexpected so it will be interesting to see what both men offer. There are a number of players whose form on the opening night I’m going to monitor without a punt and these are two of them. This is a no bet match for me.
Rob Cross vs Jose de Sousa
The second match of the evening sees the former world champion Rob Cross beginning his campaign against the Grand Slam of Darts winner Jose de Sousa, the Portuguese ace who is making his debut in the competition this season.
I guess the focus here will be on how de Sousa copes with this elite event on his debut but you would imagine it will be much easier here than when there was a full crowd at one of the huge arenas the season usually begins in. That said, this is a quirky event where you get no chance to ease your way in with a few lesser opponents. Cross knows all about getting stuck in early in a season. He was left behind last term and it might be that a repeat ensues here but I think he’ll be more at home in this event and he knows this is a match he has to win, both against an opponent new to the event and with the throw. There are still too many missed doubles in the game of de Sousa at the very top level for my liking whereas for all his recent issues, Cross’ finishing isn’t actually that bad. I’ll take the chance that the experience comes through here, albeit without the draw in play.
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Peter Wright vs Jonny Clayton
The third match of the evening is probably the biggest one now that the world champion Gerwyn Price is out of the event. That sees the man who lifted the Sid Waddell prior to the Welshman on show when Peter Wright takes on the form horse Jonny Clayton.
These two men were in great form at the most recent Super Series and if they both have that sort of game with them here then we could be in for some contest. Margins are generally pretty small when these two have met of late and I don’t expect any different here either. If this wasn’t the opening night of the campaign I’d be looking at the 180 markets and things but given that it is and it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if both have to ease their way in I’m happy to sit and watch this one and hope that my outright pick in Clayton gets off to a good start.
James Wade vs Gary Anderson
The penultimate match of the evening was scheduled to be a repeat of the world final but with the champion Gerwyn Price out, it is now James Wade who will come into the tournament and take on Gary Anderson in the latest of a series of battles the two have had throughout the years.
This one might be the trickiest match of the night to bet on. I say that for a couple of reasons. The obvious one being that Wade only knew he was in the tournament on Sunday night so how well prepared for it he will be remains to be seen. By the same token Anderson was expecting to face Price and now has a very different battle. The other question mark is their form. We know Wade has been playing well for a few months but he hasn’t played a TV match for a month, the same goes for Anderson. I’ll sit and watch this one.
Michael van Gerwen vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The final match of the first night of the competition sees the perennial champion Michael van Gerwen going up against the World Matchplay winner Dimitri Van den Bergh in what is certainly likely to be a good watch between two very good players.
Technically this is Van den Bergh’s debut in the tournament but he has been a contender in the past so he knows what it is all about. He is up against it here though, both on a form point of view as well as an experience one. Since he won the World Matchplay, the Belgian hasn’t done a whole lot and his form in 2021 has been indifferent, not helped by having to take time out for an operation on his knee. You’d think he would need a night or two to get up to speed here. Van Gerwen has been goaded for the last few weeks by Peter Wright and generally when that happens he comes out fighting. There is no doubt that van Gerwen is not the force of two years ago but he’s still better than most and still knows how to win big matches. I think he’ll win this just because of Van den Bergh’s form and I’ll take advantage of the throw to back van Gerwen on the handicap.
Tips
PUSH – Back R.Cross to beat J.de Sousa (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back M.van Gerwen (-2.5 legs) to beat D.Van den Bergh for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back him here:
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