The Premier League Darts is back for night three of the season on Thursday with the action moving from Berlin to Glasgow with another set of points towards the league table and the £10,000 for winning the night up for grabs.
We have seen the two Michaels, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, take the nightly honours so far this season and on Thursday the other six players will be hoping to have a bit of a slice of the glory.
Rob Cross vs Michael Smith
The opening quarter final of the night sees the man who won in week one in Michael Smith taking on the former world champion Rob Cross, who warmed up for the evening with a trip to Ibrox on Wednesday to watch Rangers play.
Both men lost in a deciding leg last week. Cross lost to Luke Littler in the quarter final while Smith went down to Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final. You wouldn’t say either really impressed in the opening two Players Championship tournaments this week so they might both feel like they have a point to prove. Bookmakers can’t split these and that is fair enough as I don’t expect there to be much between these. I would probably side with the scoring power of Smith but there isn’t much in the way of value anywhere so I’ll leave the opener alone.
Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright
The second quarter final of week three sees the week two winner Michael van Gerwen looking to build on a great night in Berlin when he goes up against the home hero in Glasgow in Peter Wright, who might just be coming back to some form.
I say that because Wright made the semi-final of the second Players Championship event earlier in the week and picking up a few wins should do wonders for his confidence. He is at home here too which might make him an even more dangerous proposition. I do think freshness could be an advantage here though. This week is the first time we have had midweek PC events before a Premier League night apart from during Covid so MVG could benefit from not playing in those two tournaments. I think van Gerwen will win this but the past week I have seen enough from Wright not to bother with the handicaps.
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Nathan Aspinall vs Luke Humphries
The third of the quarter finals on the third night of the season sees the world number one and world champion Luke Humphries looking to fire his Premier League campaign into life when he meets the World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall.
Aspinall hasn’t started the season well. He has lost in the quarter final both weeks and could do with a win here to get off the mark. Away from the Premier League he has been going ok though with his run to the semi-final of The Masters and he won a few games at the Players Championship tournaments. Humphries got his first Premier League points last week with a hard-fought win over Peter Wright before losing to Luke Littler in a semi-final he should have won. He then one just one match in the two Players Championship events this week so Humphries needs to fire up the cylinders a bit. One of the losses was 6-0 to Ian White which should raise a few red flags in camp Humphries. I would take Humphries on here but Aspinall is starting to seriously worry me on the doubles and so with that in mind I’ll leave it alone.
Luke Littler vs Gerwyn Price
I think we save the best for last as far as the quarter finals are concerned on Thursday evening as Luke Littler, the finalist in Berlin last week, meets Gerwyn Price, who reached the final on home soil in Cardiff in week one.
Littler didn’t let the disappointment of missing match darts in Berlin get him down as he went and won the opening Players Championship event on Monday but he didn’t fare so well on Tuesday and lost out in one of the European Tour qualifiers on Wednesday so he might finally be vulnerable here. Even in making the final last week both Rob Cross and Luke Humphries took Littler to a deciding leg, the latter having darts to beat him, Price had plenty of waves across social media earlier in the week when he pulled out of the opening PC event because of the conditions but prior to then he had averaged 101 and 110 in the two matches he won and last week he averaged 104 and change in losing to Smith in the quarter final. A lot of Littler’s averages as this week went on faded into the low 90s so if the amount of darts he is playing is catching up with him he could be vulnerable here. If Price performs like he can then I think he has every chance here.
Tips
Back G.Price to beat L.Littler for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
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