The new Premier League Darts season rolls into Cardiff on Thursday night for the second week of action as those who went well in Belfast will look to consolidate their early position while those who didn’t fare so well will want to go much better here.
As with last week, the eight players have all been placed into a draw bracket for this week where five Premier League points and a nice £10,000 will be earned by whoever comes out on top in the Cardiff final at the end of the night.
Michael Smith vs Jonny Clayton
The evening begins with a clash between the world champion and world number one Michael Smith and a player who isn’t going to be short of support for however long he is on show for the night in Jonny Clayton.
Both these men lost in the first round last week so one of them will get their Premier League campaign up and running. Both men averaged over 100 last week but couldn’t finish their dinner and it cost them. Smith was 3/8 on the doubles in defeat to Michael van Gerwen while Clayton was 2/9 in his loss to Dimitri Van den Bergh so the immediate thinking is whoever polishes their performance up at the end of the leg will come out on top here. These two are usually involved in some great matches whenever they meet and I don’t see there being a huge amount between these two so whoever does finish better might well win. I’ll hope that is Clayton because he’s my outright bet but I don’t really need to get involved in this one.
Nathan Aspinall vs Peter Wright
The second match of the night sees Nathan Aspinall looking to build on his win over Gerwyn Price last week when he takes on a Peter Wright, who despite good form heading into Belfast was terrible on his doubles and lost out to Chris Dobey.
Wright will be eager to get his campaign up and running after that display last week. He averaged 103 in that loss so if he sorts out his finishing then there is no reason why he can’t come out on top here. Aspinall will probably be well aware that he has won the last four TV meetings with Wright and there is clearly something about playing ‘Snakebite’ which he enjoys. Aspinall finished very well against Price last week but then went back to being terrible on his doubles against Dobey in the semi-final and he won’t need to be told that he has to checkout well if he is going to win this match. He seems to feel comfortable against Wright though and it has been a while since the Scot has delivered in terms of results on the biggest stages so the 6/4 on Aspinall to win this might just be a tough on the high side.
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Gerwyn Price vs Chris Dobey
Two men who had very different openings to the season meet in the third of the quarter finals in Cardiff when Gerwyn Price, who lost his first game last week, takes on the man who came out on top in Belfast in The Masters champion Chris Dobey.
Dobey must be on a high right now. He won The Masters and he won last week so he is in the middle of an eight-match winning run and should be full of confidence. That might not be the case with Price. While he is on home soil here, the Premier League has never been his favourite competition and you just wonder what his mind is like so soon after that shambles of an exit at the World Championship. Dobey was the beneficiary of some missed doubles last week but that happens when you are playing well and winning. I expect Price to see Dobey off but I don’t think there is a great deal of value in backing the Welshman to do it.
Michael van Gerwen vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The last quarter final sees the man who made the final in Belfast last week in Michael van Gerwen taking on the player he saw off in the semi-final to get into that final game in Dimitri Van den Bergh, with another semi-final spot on the line for the winner.
One of the things about this new format is the amount of times the same players end up playing each other over 16 weeks. We were told things have been modified to avoid it happening as much this season and yet in the second week we have a repeat match already. Nobody wants to see the same match every week but it does at least mean we have some genuine form to go by. Van Gerwen averaged 106 in beating Van den Bergh last week to extend his record over the man who he beat in a World Championship semi-final last month to 13-1. MVG has won 10 and drawn the other in their last 11 and you would imagine he is very comfortable playing the Belgian. It would be daft to back anything other than an MVG win here but he’s plenty short enough to get it. Instead, given the comfort he feels against Van den Bergh, the better way to play this one might be to take MVG to hit more than 2.5 180s.
Tips
Back N.Aspinall to beat P.Wright for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back M.van Gerwen – Over 2.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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