The Premier League Darts roadshow leaves the UK for the first time this season on Thursday night when it heads to Dublin for round three of the tournament. After an exciting opening fortnight of the competition there is all to play for so another top night awaits us.
Peter Wright vs James Wade
The week three action begins with Peter Wright taking on James Wade in a battle of two men on two wins for the season. The winner of this match will be guaranteed top spot in the table for a few hours and with Adrian Lewis playing Michael van Gerwen later in the night the winner here could leave Dublin on top of the pile.
Although both have two wins to their name they have got them in different ways. Both have beaten Michael Smith which has been a given so far in the tournament. Wright somehow managed to beat Barneveld last week whereas Wade’s other win came against Michael van Gerwen.
Wright could only manage a 88.19 average last week against Barneveld as he changed his darts once again and that isn’t going to win anything without an extreme amount of luck which ironically he had last week.
Wade has thrown three solid matches in this tournament so far and is going along quite nicely so he is overpriced in this match. Not only is he overpriced on performances to date but he’s very much underrated when we include the head to head between the two where Wade has won 10 of their last 13 meetings.
Wade won their Premier League meeting last year 7-3 and I think he’s value to win this one but this does look like it has the potential to be close so I’ll take ‘The Machine’ in the draw no bet market.
Dave Chisnall vs Michael Smith
Michael Smith hasn’t had the best of starts to his Premier League life but you would think he will settle down and play something like his best from here on in and it might be that playing a friend in Dave Chisnall will allow him to relax and bring out the best in him.
He will need that to be the case because Chisnall is one of the better players in the world right now and despite his defeat to Adrian Lewis last week this format suits him nicely. There is no longer a weakness in Chisnall’s game and he is expected to win this which could in its own way become an issue. Rarely at this level is Chisnall a favourite to win a match.
That mental pressure puts me off taking Chisnall to win the match but if Smith plays like he can, like I think he will, then we are almost certain to see 180s out of these two. When they met in the Grand Slam last year they produced 13 180s in 17 legs and a similar scoring rate here will see us get to eight 180s. I think that has a fair chance of happening.
Phil Taylor vs Gary Anderson
The best two matches of the night come in the third and fourth games beginning with the rerun of the 2015 World Championship final when Phil Taylor meets Gary Anderson. Taylor laid down a bit of a gauntlet last week when he claimed he couldn’t wait to play Anderson and I don’t expect Anderson to wilt so this should be a cracker.
In the really big matches Anderson is starting to get the upper hand in this rivalry and while he lost to Michael van Gerwen last week he would have beaten anyone else in the field with that performance. Taylor thrashed Wade last week and came out fighting at those who have written him off so this one is nicely set up.
I can’t get a feel for how this one is going to go if I’m honest and I think the bookies have pretty much got this one right so rather than force a bet I’ll sit this one out and enjoy what should be a cracker.
Michael van Gerwen vs Adrian Lewis
Michael van Gerwen looked awesome last week and in the European Tour event over the weekend so his clash with league leader Adrian Lewis in the penultimate match of the night should be fantastic. These two have a bit of a rivalry going in to add to the spice of it.
Van Gerwen’s form will always make him a heavy favourite for any match he plays but he just looks a little on the short side here at odds on. Even though he dominated Anderson last week and won the Dutch Darts Masters, missed doubles do still creep into his game the question is whether Lewis can score well enough to keep this one close.
My gut feeling is that Lewis is overpriced here and I wouldn’t necessarily put anyone off the lay of van Gerwen but there are other bets that look more attractive on the night which I’m going to stick with rather than risking anything here. This game is good enough to sit back and watch without a bet.
Robert Thornton vs Raymond Barneveld
I am getting involved in the final match of the night where despite last week’s collapse I’m going with Raymond Barneveld to beat Robert Thornton.
Barneveld wasn’t at his best last week but that should only fire him up to deliver here and build on his 9-3 head to head career lead over the Scot. Ireland loves Barneveld so he is going to get plenty of support and he knows he let two points slip last week and can make up for that this week.
Thornton is back this week having missed last week but prior to last week his form had been terrible. He was beaten from 8-0 up by Dave Chisnall in The Masters then lost 7-0 to the same man in the first week of the Premier League, all this not long after disappearing in the first round of the World Championship.
Thornton is drifting a lot of darts away from the 20 bed at the minute and his missed doubles are becoming more frequent. With a chest infection keeping him out of both last week and the Dutch Darts Masters you would think practice time to improve that would have been few and far between so although not too many odds on shots can be called value in this tournament I think Barneveld is one that can.
Back J.Wade to beat P.Wright (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Titanbet
Back it here:
WON – Back D.Chisnall vs M.Smith – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Skybet
Back it here:
WON – Back R.Barneveld to beat R.Thornton for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill*
Back it here:
*William Hill will refund all losing bets on Barneveld (up to £50) as a free bet if there is a 9 dart finish on the night.
