The Premier League Darts roadshow leaves the UK once again on Thursday night as it heads over to Rotterdam for Night 7 of the campaign, one in which all eyes will be on Michael van Gerwen to see if he can thrill the home crowd.
The table is starting to get very congested now so all the points that are on offer over the course of the night will be extremely sought after, which should make for a really exciting and competition night of arrers.
Peter Wright vs James Wade
The opening match of the night in Rotterdam sees the world champion Peter Wright beginning the show when he takes on James Wade in a match which carries plenty of intrigue given the results the pair have had in recent times.
Wright somehow got past Joe Cullen in the first round of the Premier League event last week but had no answer to Gary Anderson in the semi-final. He then went to the Players Championship events and bombed out in the first round on both days. Wright has been plagued by a back issue and those performances would suggest the problem is still there so sitting on a plane for a few hours isn’t likely to have helped matters. Wade was well beaten by Michael Smith last week losing 6-1 despite hitting six 180s and averaging well over 100. He couldn’t buy a double though and was 1/9 on the outer ring in that match. That isn’t really Wade so you would imagine he’ll be putting some work in to improve that and if his doubles are there he might well take care of a potentially unfit Wright at a decent price.
Gary Anderson vs Joe Cullen
The second match of the evening sees a seemingly rejuvenated Gary Anderson taking on the man who opened 2022 with a bang but has plateaued a bit in recent weeks in the shape of Joe Cullen, the man who will be experience a Dutch night at the Premier League for the first time.
Anderson was in fantastic form last week taking down the Premier League event and then making it to the final of the Saturday Players Championship competition where he saw off Cullen in the semi-final 7-3. That was revenge for Cullen walloping Anderson 10-1 at The Masters but we shouldn’t forget that Anderson got married in the lead up to that event so he clearly hadn’t been near the practice board. I said all along that as Anderson got regular competitive reps he would come good in this tournament and that is what appears to be happening. Cullen has lost the last five Premier League matches he has actually played, with the win in that spell being when Gerwyn Price gave him a walkover, and hasn’t averaged anywhere near 95 in any of them. If that doesn’t change here Anderson wins with a bit to spare.
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Jonny Clayton vs Gerwyn Price
The penultimate quarter final of the evening sees the two Wales teammates in the World Cup going at it when Jonny Clayton takes on Gerwyn Price in what is another interesting match as one has just come off the top of his form in Clayton and the other has been nursing a hand injury in Price.
Both those things make this a match that is hard to bet on although to be fair to Price he didn’t look too bad with his hand last week when he saw off Michael van Gerwen in the quarter final before going down to Michael Smith. The fact Price didn’t go to the tour events over the weekend shows his hands still isn’t in great shape. Clayton has hit the buffers though. He only averaged 91 in defeat to Gary Anderson last week and although he went ok on the floor over the weekend he lost when he played anyone good. If Price is close to 100% I’d fancy him here but we are guessing on that so I’ll leave this one alone.
Michael van Gerwen vs Michael Smith
The last of the quarter finals on Thursday evening sees the two Michaels going at it when the home star Michael van Gerwen meets the world finalist Michael Smith in a match which should set the pulses racing ahead of the semi-finals.
Smith took a while to get going this season but he looks to be firing on all cylinders now while van Gerwen has won a couple of these Premier League nights and a European Tour event so far this month and looks to be back to something near his best. We did see against Gerwyn Price last week though that his consistency still isn’t quite what it was so that might keep Smith interested. Smith scored great in a win over James Wade last week and he went on to make the final before going down to Gary Anderson. There are definitely signs that Smith is knocking on the door of winning one of these things but he’s going to have the crowd right against him here. That probably sways things MVGs way but at 8/15 I’m happy to let him win.
Tips
Back J.Wade to beat P.Wright for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back G.Anderson (-1.5 legs) to beat J.Cullen for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Coral
Back him here:
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