Three-time world champion John Part brings you his match-by-match analysis and predictions for Thursday night's Premier League Darts action in his weekly column.
**Last week John Part had winning predictions at 8/13, 5/4 and 3/1**
The 2017 Premier League Darts season continues on Thursday April 13 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, featuring Michael van Gerwen's clash with Peter Wright, who also meets Gary Anderson in another potentially thrilling encounter.
John Part, who triumphed in two PDC World Championship finals against Phil Taylor and Kirk Shepherd to add to his BDO crown of 1994, continues to bring you match-by-match analysis and predictions ahead of every round of the 16-week season, including the finale at London's O2 on May 18.
So here are Darth Maple's best bets for all five games in Liverpool, which will be screened live on Sky Sports from 1900 GMT...
Premier League Darts: Week 11 predictions
JOHN PART'S TREBLE: ANDERSON, BARNEY & TAYLOR ALL TO WIN AT 4.63/1
Click on each match for more Sky Bet odds
Gary Anderson (1/2) v Dave Chisnall (4/1) (Draw 9/2)
It’s a big night for Gary Anderson as he finds himself playing catch-up in the race for the top four – and he has the chance to do just that with two games this week.
He didn’t play well last week – by his own standards and compared to everyone else – during his defeat to Adrian Lewis but that certainly wasn’t the true Anderson and we can expect better in Liverpool performance-wise.
With a very tough fixture against Peter Wright to close the night, the pressure is really on to win this one but it won’t be easy.
Last week I said Chizzy was a potential banana peel for Peter Wright now that there’s no pressure on his shoulders and he came so close to victory with a fine display.
He’s just playing darts with no worries and the only motivation is just to make a good impression and giving himself the best chance of getting an invite back for next year. If I were him, I’d be focused on making myself indispensable.
Although Anderson is going in my treble this week, this isn’t one to go heavy on in a single for the reasons above and instead I like the Match Action bet at 4/1 which requires over 7.5 180s, a checkout of over 121.5 and over 10.5 total legs.
The maximums certainly shouldn’t be a problem and the checkout is always doable at this standard, while if Gary struggles on his doubles like last week that gives Chizzy even more of a chance of making it a lengthy encounter.
Michael van Gerwen (4/11) v Peter Wright (5/1) (Draw 5/1)
I understand why MVG has to be favourite but it’s shocking that Peter Wright is 5/1. It’s a great value price.
He’s won 40% of their matches this season – two out of five – yet he’s 5/1.
Peter has the added motivation of knowing a win against Michael and at least a point against Gary Anderson in his second match of the night will see him move to the top of the table.
That said, it is an extremely tough night for him. Ranked three in the world, he’s playing the two guys ahead of him!
But he’s had a lot of tests this year and passed many of them, including winning his first TV major and also beating MVG in a tournament final, so mentally he’ll be ready.
Even last week he found himself 6-3 down against a player many expected him to beat comfortably (Chisnall) yet responded well for a draw. He might question why he was in that position to begin with but he did get out of it.
On the other hand he could produce his best darts in both games and still walk away with nothing.
MVG was forced into a great performance by James Wade last week as he averaged 113 and produced a stunning 138 checkout in the final leg to win 7-5 – but it is hard to string two of these displays together in a row.
I also think it’s worth a small flutter on the 18/1 Player Performance bet for Peter which requires him to win, score over 3.5 180s and have a checkout of over 99.5.
If he’s going to win – and I’ve made a reasonable case for him to do just that – then you’d think he’d have to hit those additional targets as well.
Raymond van Barneveld (5/4) v Adrian Lewis (6/4) (Draw 7/2)
Although Barney wasn't great last week against Phil Taylor or James Wade, whose performance level dipped dramatically from how he played against MVG, he still averaged 100 twice.
It's hard to play twice in one night but by beating James he's still well in the hunt but so is Adrian Lewis now.
If Adrian wins he's only a point behind Barney but he hasn't got a great record against him in recent times, losing seven of their last nine meetings.
Describing this clash as a 'must win' for Adrian is probably a touch strong but it's certainly vital in the race for the top four, so there is pressure to be felt.
I'm not horridly excited about picking Raymond in what could be a close match but I'm going to throw in the high checkout as well as the win at 5/2.
He's produced plenty of high finishes this season and two of his eight over 100 (Lewis has hit three) came against Taylor last week.
Phil Taylor (5/4) v James Wade (11/4) (Draw 4/1)
Taylor was very solid last week in beating Barney and he’s enjoying his mission to get into the top four this season.
He’ll need to get the job done against Wade to stay in touch but he’ll be confident of doing so having beaten James so many times before.
Whenever he’s needed to do a job on Wade in the past, he usually has.
James did enjoy a pretty good weekend in Barnsley at the Players Championship events – albeit not winning either of the two – to boost his confidence after a poor losing run which included two defeats last week.
He produced his very best against MVG but still lost and couldn’t reproduce the same standard against Barney.
Rather than back Taylor at 4/6, I’m instead going to the Player Performance market where he is 4/1 to win, score over 2.5 180s and have a checkout of over 108.5.
These are very manageable targets to up the odds and I don’t think either part of the treble is asking much.
Gary Anderson (5/4) v Peter Wright (6/4) (Draw 6/4)
It's hard and mentally tiring playing twice in one night, especially when the stakes are high and your previous matches were tough.
We were reminded of this as recently as last Thursday with Barney’s clash with Wade after both had faced Taylor and MVG earlier in the night.
Whereas Peter will come into this match on the back of facing van Gerwen, I do also think Anderson will be tested by Chisnall even in an expected victory.
Despite this, the Match Action targets (over 7.5 180s, checkout more than 122.5 and over 11.5 legs) have been set high for such a high-profile duel between two of the world’s best players but I think this is an opportunity to go under at 4/1.
A 7-4 result for either player – which is hardly a thrashing for those expecting a close match – would put this bet in the running and both of them may struggle to find top form.
Going for this option also cuts yourself free of some strings. You’re not dependent on what happened earlier other than the fact they were involved in tough matches.
Premier League Darts 2017 Table
MVG P 10 W 7 D 2 L 1 LegD +21 Pts 16
Wright P 10 W 6 D 2 L 2 LegD +16 Pts 14
RVB P 11 W 6 D 2 L 3 LegD +9 Pts 14
Taylor P 10 W 5 D 3 L 2 LegD +9 Pts 13
Anderson P 10 W 4 D 3 L 3 LegD +6 Pts 11
Lewis P 10 W 5 D 1 L 4 LegD +4 Pts 11
Wade P 11 W 3 D 2 L 6 LegD -10 Pts 8
Chisnall P 10 W 3 D 1 L 6 LegD -16 Pts 7
Klaasen P 9 W 1 D 1 L 7 LegD -16 Pts 3
Huybrechts P 9 W 0 D 3 L 6 LegD -23 Pts 3
* Klaasen & Huybrechts relegated after week nine