It is the final night of regular season action in the Premier League Darts campaign on Thursday night with all eight players playing in the weekly tournament for the final time ahead of the last four in Berlin next month.
Three of the four players heading to Germany have already been decided and we will have effectively a straight knockout midway through the evening in Newcastle to determine who the fourth player will be.
Jonny Clayton vs Gary Anderson
The quarter finals in Newcastle are done on table order so we begin the night with the table topper Jonny Clayton taking on the man bringing up the rear in Gary Anderson. Clayton knows he will head to Berlin as the number one seed while Anderson is fully aware he’ll be on his couch watching.
Clayton has dominated the league phase while Anderson has been bang ordinary and that is reflected in the prices for this match. It is hard to think of a scenario where Anderson wins this based on what we’ve seen so far but I’m well aware that this is a dead rubber and weird things happen in those things so I’m not rushing to get involved in this game but you would imagine that Clayton is a safe one for the accumulators for those who playthem.
Joe Cullen vs Peter Wright
The big match of the night is the second of the quarter finals when Joe Cullen meets Peter Wright. There isn’t just a place in the semi-finals here in Newcastle on the line in this match but a spot in the overall semi-finals as whoever wins this match will take the fourth spot in Berlin.
Cullen making the final and winning last week means that he’ll have the advantage of the throw here and that could be significant as he bids for a place in the final four. On his way to that final he walloped Wright 6-1 in the last four in London after Wright was fortunate to run into an unfit Wade in the quarter finals. I would imagine this will be a lot more competitive than that one was purely because of what is at stake and given what is on the game I’m expecting Wright to win but I’m in no rush to take odds on for him to do so when he doesn’t have the throw.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Michael Smith
The pick of the quarter finals is probably the third one even though there is nothing on it as Michael van Gerwen takes on Michael Smith. If you think you are seeing this every week at the minute that is because you are as it is the fourth week in succession that the two have met in this competition.
Smith finally got the better of his Dutch foe last week and will be looking to do that same here and come out of the Premier League with a bit of confidence. Van Gerwen heads off to New York next week and he’ll be looking to go there off the back of a big night to finish off the regular season so I’m expecting to see a really good match between these two. The two drew the 180s last week but prior to that Smith had come out on top in that discipline in their four matches in this competition and I think he might be more determined to end with a win here. We could see van Gerwen use the trebles and chase the show reel shots in this match which I don’t see Smith doing so Smith to hit the most 180s looks fair at 10/11.
James Wade vs Gerwyn Price
James Wade heads to Newcastle knowing that he will be in Berlin next month whatever happens in the last of his quarter finals against the former world champion Gerwyn Price. Price will be all too aware that his Premier League campaign ends here in Newcastle.
Wade is still building up his fitness after the illness he suffered in Germany recently and I would imagine he’s got bigger fish to fry given that he is already through. Price is professional enough to give this his all but he is clearly not playing his best darts at the minute either even allowing for him winning in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago. I would expect Price to win this because Wade looked pretty rough physically and in his game last week but I’m in no rush to pay to find out at odds on.
Tips
Back M.Smith Most 180s vs M.van Gerwen for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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