The o2 Arena is in sight for the players left in the Premier League Darts competition and Week 11 could be another pivotal night in the race for the places at the London venue.
Thursday night’s action comes from Belfast as the eight players compete in five more exciting looking matches with the headline match being the one between the last two men to win the world title.
Robert Thornton vs Peter Wright
The action begins with the all-Scottish battle between Peter Wright and Robert Thornton. Under normal circumstances this would be a big night for Thornton as he plays twice but I think even he would admit he is playing for pride and a bit of prize money alone from here on in. He isn’t going to make it to the o2.
Peter Wright is right in the mix to make it there though and so he will know he is dropping points to the field if he doesn’t take care of his Scottish rival here. That brings even more pressure than he would normally be under though and that could create an issue or two.
With the way the pressure is I’m not sure how I fancy this one to go but a quick look at their head to head record suggests this one could be very close indeed. Six of their last seven matches have gone to a deciding leg, three of them in this competition, and the other one was 6-4 in Wright’s favour.
Their first meeting this season ended in a 6-6 draw when Thornton was trying to get his game back into order. Given how well he holds his throw and the fact he can play with freedom here I think 8/11 on the Thorn with a 2.5 leg start is too big especially as he throws first meeting Wright has to break twice to cover.
Raymond Barneveld vs Phil Taylor
It is a big night for Raymond Barneveld. He plays twice on the night and can make significant inroads into the gaps those above him have forged. First he goes looking for a double over his everlasting adversary and then he will look to take care of Robert Thornton.
Taylor had his two match night last week and took full advantage of it so he goes into this week with a three point lead in the table and with the two men most likely to challenge him in the table meeting later in the evening a win here could be very significant for The Power.
Taylor wasn’t dazzling last week but bagged a brace of wins and he’s rightly the favourite here but Barneveld suddenly seems to believe that he can beat Taylor so this could turn into a really good match but not one I can bet on.
James Wade vs Adrian Lewis
This is a night of rivalries and the latest leg in this one will be played as the middle game of the evening. Amazingly this will be the 47th time the pair have met in professional competition. Wade has the edge with 26 wins and three draws to 17 defeats but he hasn’t won any of their last five.
That said James Wade has played well in this tournament and while the 100+ averages have dropped off recently he is still going along nicely enough. He did lose to Phil Taylor last week after beating Raymond Barneveld but I’m not going to take too much out of these results in second matches of a night. They are always tough to play.
I didn’t think Adrian Lewis was that great last week but he managed to burgle a draw out of Peter Wright. He’ll have to improve on that here you would think because Wade is scoring really well and he’s no longer shelling as many chances on the doubles as he was earlier in the season.
When these two met in their first meeting Lewis won 7-5 when they ended with a crazy leg where both missed a mountain of doubles to win the match. Since then Wade’s doubling has been bang on it and if those doubles are there here I fancy he’ll get a result. He’s the value but in the draw no bet market.
Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
This is the match of the night for most people and it has the potential to be a cracker. Anderson always raises his game against van Gerwen and repeatedly states he likes playing the Dutchman. On the flip side I always feel van Gerwen is slightly intimidated or insular when he plays Anderson and that dynamic makes it interesting.
Any doubts that van Gerwen isn’t playing well can be put to bed. He averaged over 118 yet again in the Premier League last week and then made all three finals in the Players Championship events over the weekend, winning one and losing in two of them. Those defeats will have irked him and Anderson might feel the force here.
Anderson didn’t really show up against Taylor last week but he’ll need to here if he is to stay in touch with MVG and Taylor. At his best we know Anderson is a match for and can beat anyone but whether he’s at his best I’m not so sure.
I think MVG will get the job done here but I respect Anderson’s record against his Dutch rival and his performance levels enough to sit back and watch this one play out without getting involved from a betting point of view.
Raymond Barneveld vs Robert Thornton
The second match of the night for both men and as we know it is always hard to predict these matches because what goes on earlier in the evening has such an impact on mental states going into these second ones and I don’t like second guessing anything really.
The one thing we do know is whatever has happened earlier in the night the pressure is on Barneveld here as Thornton is freerolling from here you would think. I don’t want to bet on this one but if I had to I might chance Thornton if he has had a positive result earlier in the night but I’ll sit this one out too.
Tips
WON – Back R.Thornton (+2.5 legs) to beat P.Wright for a 5/10 stake at 1.73 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back J.Wade to beat A.Lewis (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back him here:
