After an exciting UK Open over the weekend with plenty of stories and some excellent darts we are back to the Premier League on Thursday night as the stars of the game head to Nottingham for round six of the competition.
Michael Smith vs Gary Anderson
The evening begins with two friends doing battle. In fact these two are more than friends. Anderson manages Smith. They play exhibitions up and down the country together and are often in each other’s company. These two are probably as close as you’re going to get to brothers without being related and we’ve got to bare that in mind when considering a bet.
On the dartboard though both are going through their struggles. Anderson hasn’t really convinced since he won the world title. He was ill earlier in this competition so maybe he has been playing catch up but at some point you would expect him to come to life. It certainly didn’t happen at the UK Open where he was taken out by the pub qualifier Barry Lynn.
Michael Smith finally got his first Premier League win last week but he’s going to need a couple more if he is to have a chance of surviving. With Phil Taylor to come you would think this is must win for the St Helens star but if the weekend, where he narrowly edged out Daryl Gurney before losing to Stuart Kellett, is anything to go by Smith isn’t in great touch either.
With neither in much form and their friendship on top this is an easy game to swerve a bet in.
Peter Wright vs Adrian Lewis
If there is one match on the night that looks close it is this one. Both men have three wins to their name with a draw picked up along the way enough to have Wright ahead of his opponent in the table going into the match but whoever wins here will be looking very good for the semi-finals.
Wright comes in here off the back of a run to the final in Minehead where he did nothing wrong but had to stand and watch another van Gerwen masterclass. Lewis was beaten in the last 16 of that event by a rampant Jelle Klaasen.
Wright looks to be playing the better of the two but his head to head record against Lewis isn’t great and so I wonder if there is something about playing Lewis that Wright doesn’t like. All things being equal I would go with Wright here but that head to head just puts me off enough.
Raymond Barneveld vs James Wade
This is another match that looks close on paper but actually when you break down the numbers it might not be as close as people think.
Away from the Premier League, both men were beaten fairly early in the UK Open at the weekend so we can’t take too much from that which means we can focus on their Premier League records.
Barneveld has two wins in the competition so far. They came against an out of sorts Phil Taylor and Robert Thornton who is yet to turn up in the tournament. That isn’t lights out form it has to be said and defeats to a Wright who was wretched on that night, and to Michael Smith doesn’t look good.
James Wade has beaten Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Dave Chisnall already this season and while he has lost to Phil Taylor, Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis he did absolutely little wrong in the first of those two and would have got something against Lewis most nights.
Wade is clearly going the better of the two in this tournament and I think that could count for something here so I’m going to side with him but on the draw no bet market given that he throws second.
Robert Thornton vs Phil Taylor
On all known form in 2016 this will be a comfortable Taylor win but it should be said that unlike some opponents Robert Thornton isn’t one who is beaten before he goes on stage to play Taylor.
Thornton’s form isn’t good. He is still looking for a first Premier League win and couldn’t even make it into the third round of the UK Open last weekend but that doesn’t mean he can’t stay close. I’ve mentioned in the past that the Scot is an accomplished player on his own throw which makes betting here tricky.
Taylor might be extra motivated after his defeat to van Gerwen in the UK Open at the weekend and that wouldn’t bode well for Thornton here but I’m not one for backing 3.5 leg handicaps to be covered by a player throwing second so I’ll sit this one out.
Dave Chisnall vs Michael van Gerwen
The final game of the night should be the best game of the night as Dave Chisnall meets the man setting all sorts of records at the minute in Michael van Gerwen. Generally when these two meet they serve up some fireworks and I see no reason why they won’t produce more here.
Chisnall could do with a win here. He has only beaten Robert Thornton and got a draw out of Michael Smith so far in the tournament while since his defeat to James Wade on the opening week of the event MVG hasn’t lost and has blown away his opposition.
I can’t take on MVG in this match but again a 3.5 leg cap looks big when he throws second. I’m not saying he can’t cover it but it is harder to be as convinced especially given Chisnall’s scoring power.
With that scoring power I was going to take the 180s in this match. Both lead the 180 hitting in the tournament but the line is at 8.5 which would be folly to take in a best of 12 legs even though it has every chance of it being covered.
WON – Back J.Wade to beat R.Barneveld (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back him here:
