It is the penultimate round of the regular season in the Premier League Darts tournament on Thursday night and the final set of matches in England until the playoffs at the o2 later in the month as the round robin phase ends in Rotterdam next week.
We’ve just the four matches in Manchester on Thursday but four juicy looking matches they are and they should provide us with some high quality tungsten tossing that tantalises all.
James Wade vs Peter Wright
The equation for these two is pretty simple. To have any chance of making it to the o2 they have to win. A draw leaves them hanging by the slenderest thread but realistically it is win or the season is over. Even then the winner would need Adrian Lewis to lose later in the night to stay alive.
Peter Wright kept his qualification hopes alive courtesy of a three point week in Birmingham last week when he secured a win over Phil Taylor and a draw with Gary Anderson. Two excellent results indeed and he followed that up with a run to a Players Championship final on Sunday so he’s back in decent nick again.
James Wade also made the final of a Players Championship event at the weekend. His came on Saturday where he lost to Josh Payne in the decider. In this tournament though things have been much different. He only has one win in his last six matches but he received a confidence booster on Saturday when he beat Wright on the way to his final.
That match ended 6-5 and this one could easily be just as close if not end a draw but a draw does neither good and I just wonder if the air will disappear from the balloon from the man who sees his opponent reach six first.
If it does then with Wade throwing first he may well get there first and might have a cheap chance to break to win. If it doesn’t go that way Wade is more than good enough to win here anyway so at the prices he has to be the pick here.
Gary Anderson vs Robert Thornton
The all-Scottish battle doesn’t really have much on it as Anderson can’t finish any higher than third and Thornton is long gone in terms of having a chance of qualifying so this is a dead rubber in all but perhaps Anderson keeping his eye in ahead of the playoffs.
Thornton’s form since he survived elimination tells a story. He has lost four of his five matches and has only landed eight legs in his last three games. He is finding it hard to motivate himself when he falls behind now and who can blame him? His season peaked when he avoided the trap door.
Gary Anderson is undefeated in four matches now albeit three of those have been draws but Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright are much stiffer challenges than Robert Thornton is and should be.
I expect Anderson to win this but he’s no price to do it. Instead it might be worth latching onto the win, most 180s and highest checkout combination. If Anderson wins he could well win big based on recent weeks and with that Thornton won’t be taking many shots out at all so it could all come down to 2/1 on Anderson to hit the most 180s.
Thornton hasn’t hit more than two 180s in any of his last four matches and you’ve got to think if that doesn’t improve here Anderson will have that covered so the 2/1 treble could offer a much better value alternative to the straight Anderson win and an option which has ever chance if the world champion wins big like he did in the previous meeting between the two.
Michael van Gerwen vs Raymond Barneveld
Third up we have the match most judges thought would be a shoe in to be in Rotterdam next week but it is arguably bigger this week, certainly for van Gerwen.
Raymond Barneveld is playing purely for pride here in terms of the league table but he’s playing for more than that because he wants to be remembered as the best of the Dutch players and he’ll still be smarting from surrendering a 6-3 lead when these two met earlier in the season.
Michael van Gerwen has his eye on top spot in the table and with a huge match against Phil Taylor next week which looks like deciding who the £25k bounty will go to it is possible MVG takes his eye off the ball here or feels the pressure.
Van Gerwen doesn’t have a particularly good record in big matches against Barneveld. He rarely beats him big and Barneveld often throws down his best form at his Dutch rival. I’ve a feeling we’ll see the best of Barneveld here and if we do he’s far too big a price at 7/1.
Adrian Lewis vs Phil Taylor
Another man with a point to prove against an opponent is Adrian Lewis. He never showed up when these two met earlier in the season and took a 7-1 beating and he’ll be out to avoid a repeat here I would imagine.
Phil Taylor might well have something to prove himself this week having lost to Peter Wright last week and not even averaging 90 in a win over Robert Thornton the week before. Now would be a terrible time for Taylor to lose his form with next week’s huge match awaiting him.
Adrian Lewis needs a point from his last two matches to secure a spot at the o2 so there is a bit of pressure on him although if the Wade vs Wright match has finished a draw then Lewis will be through already.
There is a bit too much potential for outside influences to get in here for my liking. If the earlier game is a draw Lewis might be too relaxed and not perform while if it isn’t he might feel the pressure and not perform while Taylor might be thinking too much of next week and open the door here. I’m happy to sit this one out.
Tips
Back J.Wade to beat P.Wright for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Skybet
Back him here:
Back G.Anderson to win, hit most 180s and have the highest checkout for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back R.Barneveld to beat M.van Gerwen for a 2/10 stake at 8.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
