It is Judgement Night in the Premier League Darts season on Thursday night as the 10 men head to Cardiff with plenty on the line for round nine of the exhibition event.
The night is a massive one for Robert Thornton, Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith in particular as at the end of it two of them will have played their final match of the season as the bottom two in the table get eliminated.
James Wade vs Gary Anderson
The night begins with two form men in the tournament. James Wade missed last week but he has won his last three matches this season while Gary Anderson now has won six on the trot after he lost his first two games in the event.
If anything Anderson is beginning to look like the man who won this title and the world title. He is regularly averaging over the ton mark and his doubles are looking spot on again. He has got himself joint top of the table and he’s in a position to go deep in this event again.
James Wade has been going about his work nicely. His three wins have all come courtesy of averages over 100. His scoring has been very good and his doubles have improved over the course of the campaign. He’s still not flawless on them but he is much better.
This could be a close match but I don’t want to take Anderson on so I’m going to sit this one out but I could end up regretting not taking Wade in some way.
Michael Smith vs Phil Taylor
The equation for Smith is pretty simple here. He has to win and hope that Dave Chisnall and Robert Thornton don’t win later in the evening. Taylor is tied for the lead in the table so he will want to win to keep up in the race for the £25k bonus for topping the table at the end of the season.
You would think any chance Smith had of avoiding elimination came and went when he lost to Robert Thornton last week. A win there and he would have been in total control of his own destiny but defeat has meant even a win here doesn’t ensure his safety. A run to the semi-final in Germany over the weekend should at least have boosted his confidence.
Taylor has been performing solidly in the tournament so far. He is undefeated since the opening night of the season but back to back draws have left him needing a win to get his form back up. When he has won this season it has tended to be by big margins.
I don’t see much hope for Smith in this match but Taylor’s giving up 3.5 legs start which is asking a bit to cover even allowing for how well Taylor has been playing. I’ll sit this one out too.
Dave Chisnall vs Peter Wright
If Michael Smith has already lost then Chisnall knows he is safe with a draw should Thornton lose or if he wins and Thornton doesn’t win. Peter Wright is hanging onto the top three by their coattails in the table and a win here would propel him right back among them.
Not since the opening night of the season has Chisnall won and we’ve not really seen anything like his very best form. He produced a decent average against Phil Taylor in defeat but last week was only the second time since the first night that he has produced a 100 average and even then it was only 100.01. His isn’t hitting anything like a necessary doubles percentage.
Peter Wright has been going along nicely this season. He has three wins and three defeats with a couple of draws but his last four averages have been 108.98, 106.79, 101.31 and 103.40 so he has been consistent and when he hasn’t won it has been because someone has played out of their skin against him.
There is no sign of Chisnall doing that this week especially given the pressure he is going to be under. Wright’s confidence will have been boosted by his run to the final of the German Darts Masters at the weekend and even at a shade of odds on he’s my idea of the most likely winner of this one.
Robert Thornton vs Adrian Lewis
Thornton is the one man who goes into the night in control of his own destiny. Whatever happens prior to this match if Thornton wins here he survives and the other two go home. Anything but that and he’ll have needed some help to survive. The good thing from his point of view is the other two play before him so he’ll know exactly what he needs from the game.
The Scot kept his chances alive with a gutsy win over Smith last week which he followed up with a vital draw against Michael van Gerwen which could just have been enough to save him when the point totals are counted.
Adrian Lewis is producing one of his better Premier League campaigns so far. He has picked up five wins out of his eight matches to date with only the three men above him in the table beating him prior to this match. That bodes well for him here.
I think this will be the tightest match of the night if Thornton needs something from it to survive. Even if he doesn’t he should be all out to win because he still has a semi-final spot to target over the weeks to come. I fancy a draw here but I’m not a draw backer.
Raymond Barneveld vs Michael van Gerwen
The first half of the season finishes with the all-Dutch clash as van Gerwen aims to keep hold of top spot going into the reverse fixtures which begin next week.
Barneveld has been very inconsistent in this competition so far. He has three wins to his name, one of which came against Phil Taylor, but he also has five defeats. Amazingly four of those five defeats ended 7-5 which shows that when the pressure comes he hasn’t been able to get over the line.
I don’t think van Gerwen is on absolute top form at the minute but when he has produced averages of 123.40 and 116.67 this season it is possible he’ll never be on top form again. He’s doing enough to get results but his scoring has dropped a little and his finishing not quite as crisp. It is a credit to how good he is that he was still able to win a European Tour event over the weekend.
I would think van Gerwen will win this but I would be surprised if it is one sided. Barneveld has shown on plenty of occasions that he can hold his own against his Dutch rival but even allowing for that I can’t take van Gerwen on. I’ll sit this one out and watch what should be a cracking match.
Premier League Darts Tips
WON – Back P.Wright to beat D.Chisnall for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back him here:
