The new season of the Premier League Darts gets underway on Thursday night as eight of the best darts players in the land get ready for a four-month tour of the UK and Europe looking to entertain thousands in this elite invitation event.
Michael van Gerwen did that once again last season when he edged his way into the top four and then took the glory on finals night. He is back in the field this year and has seven challengers looking to get the better of him.
Recent Winners
2022 – Michael van Gerwen
2021 – Jonny Clayton
2020 – Glen Durrant
2019 – Michael van Gerwen
2018 – Michael van Gerwen
2017 – Michael van Gerwen
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Gary Anderson
2014 – Raymond van Barneveld
2013 – Michael van Gerwen
The Format
We have the same format which was used for the first time last season. Each of the 16 nights will have its own tournament with quarter finals, semi-finals and a final where league table points will be won and lost. The winner of each night gets five points with the finalist getting three. The two semi-finalists get two points each. Each player will play the other seven in a quarter final twice over the 16 nights with the league table determining the order for the other two evenings. Each night also has £10,000 up for grabs for the winner. At the end of the season the points are added up with the top four heading to London for finals night. The 16 qualifying nights sees all matches over the best of 11 legs while the semi-finals on the final night are the best of 19 legs and the winner crowned over the best of 21.
The Field
As ever with the eight man entry for this tournament the top four in the world rankings were automatic qualifiers and then there were four wildcard picks. That means the automatic qualifiers are the world number one and world champion Michael Smith, the man he beat in the World Championship final in the defending Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and the now world number four Gerwyn Price.
The four players who were picked has once again created plenty of controversy not least because there were a decent bunch of men to choose from. Former champion Jonny Clayton didn’t have the best 2022 but he is in the field this week. The World Grand Prix and Grand Slam finalist Nathan Aspinall has been selected for another Premier League tilt while the World Championship semi-finalist Dimitri Van den Bergh is back in the tournament too. The one debutant this year is The Masters winner Chris Dobey.
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Market Leaders
Michael van Gerwen has a wonderful record in this tournament and is the 9/4 favourite to keep hold of his title. If this was a tournament where you had to be at your best every week then there could be obvious claims for that being a short price but we shouldn’t forget that anyone in this field only needs to be one of the four best players for the opening 16 weeks and then peak for two matches on finals night. The Dutchman is a master at doing that having won this title six times and looks very much the one to beat.
His chief rival in the betting market is the man who beat him in the World Championship final in Michael Smith. He is 7/2 to add the Premier League title to his world crown but despite being a regular in the tournament, his record in it is poor. He made the final in it in 2018 but hasn’t even reached the semi-final in the other four times he has been in it and I’m not convinced the format that is currently in use suits him. He is also carrying the pressure of being world champion and he just feels a little short to me.
Gerwyn Price is a 9/2 third favourite to win the tournament. At his best you would say that is a decent price but I have referenced the fact that his record in this event is terrible for a man of his class before. While he made a raft of nine-darters last year including two on the same night, he has played four Premier League seasons and hasn’t even made a single semi-final. That is no coincidence. The crowds just don’t let him play his natural game often enough. It might be that he makes the last four here because there are enough nights in Wales and Europe where he can pick up good points but then you’re backing a guy who might not be given an even chance to win at the o2 Arena should he make the last four.
Peter Wright is the only other man in the betting who is a single figure price. He is 6/1 to win the title but it will need a big improvement on his recent showings in the event if he is going to be competitive. He has played nine Premier League campaigns and only got to finals night twice with his last five efforts reading 7-8-SF-7-5. It is hard to argue he is any better than he was during that run and it is even harder to suggest he is as consistent as he was. Throw in the health issues which have plagued him over the last 12 months or so and it is hard to rely on Snakebite over a four-month competition.
Outright Betting
I think this is a much more open betting heat than the market would suggest. I’ve already highlighted it above but I’ll do it again, we are not looking for the best player in the tournament to win this thing. We only need someone to be consistent enough over the first 16 weeks to finish in the top four and then peak for a couple of matches at the o2 Arena in May. Whether that player regularly wins the odd match each week or takes down 4-5 weekly tournaments and does little else it is all about getting in the top four.
When you consider the record of three of the market leaders – Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright – who have three finals night appearances in 18 campaigns between them, the outsiders should be looking in here thinking they have every chance of reaching the o2 and the man I like is Jonny Clayton. While his form tailed off a little in 2022 we shouldn’t forget that he won this tournament in 2021 and topped the table in 2022 where he was a street clear of anyone else. While we say his form tailed off last year, he still made the semi-finals in the World Series Finals and the Players Championship Finals and then the last eight of the World Championship so his form hasn’t exactly been a disaster. You rarely get a bad performance out of Clayton and that consistency can get him into the top four and then we’ll see how well he goes. At 11/1 he feels like the value in the field.
Tips
Back J.Clayton to win Premier League Darts (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 12.00 with Unibet (1/3 1-2)
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