The 2017 Premier League Darts season continues on Thursday April 27 at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, featuring two matches for Michael van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis, who collide in the night's finale.

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.

First Darth Maple reflects on a dramatic weekend in Germany and the current state of play in the Premier League before revealing his best bets for all five games in Birmingham, which will be screened live on Sky Sports from 1900 GMT ... 

Wright reigns; MVG thrashed

Peter Wright proved himself an experienced winner at the weekend with his sixth title of the season at the German Darts Open. 

He’s developed this reservoir of mental strength not to be out played even if he’s being out performed – and that was certainly the case in Germany when he scraped through a couple of games and then beat Benito van de Pas in the final even though the young Dutchman was averaging 110.

Wright has also changed his darts again and that has fuelled some debate. It’s easy from the outside to blame any below-par average on these type of regular changes but it’s a non-issue for him.

He’ll be a foremost expert in style change and will have a good idea on how every little tweak to the flight or barrel for example will affect his throw. There won’t be any guess work involved.

The other headline from the weekend was MVG’s heavy 6-1 defeat to Ian White in the quarter-finals.

Ian is a tricky guy to size up and categorise – he will pick up some impressive wins but struggles to go on and convert that into title success. As far as MVG is concerned, he does go off his doubles sometimes but usually gets away with it with heavy scoring. He missed eight out of nine against White, who didn't let him off the hook.

Looking ahead to this Thursday’s action in Birmingham, we’ve got exactly what we wanted with the race for the play-offs being so keenly contested.

A lot of these guys will have been playing with confidence for most of the season about reaching the top four and are generally impervious to being affected by nerves.

But now the reality of this situation will be weighing heavily on their minds – there’s no more ‘I just need to pay attention’ to qualify or any other assumptions. It’s that close and they are all living with that pressure of having to win these key games. If they don’t get any points then destiny will spin out of their control.

Some players will respond to this well and contribute to some high-quality games but there could also be some nervy ones with plenty of missed doubles. 

Premier League Darts: Week 13 predictions

JOHN PART'S TREBLE: LEWIS, WRIGHT & BARNEY ALL TO WIN AT 10.17/1

Click on each match for more Sky Bet odds 

James Wade (9/4) v Adrian Lewis (4/5) (Draw 4/1)

Both players were poor last week but Adrian clearly has plenty more to play for and it’s also his game in hand week as he looks to put himself in a really good position to make the play-offs.

His second game tonight is against MVG so it's even more imperative he takes maximum points from this one.

You can never be too confident backing Adie because occasionally, like last week, he doesn't turn up even if the signs and form have been good – but I've still got to go with him against Wade.

Hopefully Belfast was just a blip because everything was looking so good for him before then. To use a word Wayne Mardle often uses to describe him, he was looking majestic in terms of his throwing and he’ll be looking to get back to that kind of form in Birmingham.

I’m also going to throw in the most 180s and highest checkout to up the price to 5/2 even though James is traditionally pretty solid on the 100-120 range. That said, he hasn’t been as prolific on 100+ checkouts this season as usual and if Adrian is on form then he’s always good for a high one.

James has still only managed 19 180s this season compared to Adie's 41 so we can be confident that part of the treble will come in.

Dave Chisnall (13/2) v Michael van Gerwen (1/4) (Draw 13/2)

Who would have thought Chizzy would have won both games of a double-header week for the second time this season? By doing so he's put himself right in the mix and opened up the race for the play-offs.

MVG is looking a little bit flat by his standards and heads to Birmingham off the back of that heavy defeat to Ian White at the German Darts Open.

He has that double-match distraction this week, with a game against Adrian Lewis to come, and it could be a tough night for him. He could of course make things look easy with two wins that send him well clear of the pack but both his opponents have looked dangerous overall in recent weeks.

And if Adrian wins well in the first match that could also be another little distraction for MVG.

Chizzy was superb against Lewis and Taylor last week and could well fly out of the traps with more heavy scoring and plenty more 180s.

I just think all the above little things together presents a window of opportunity for something that doesn't happen often – an MVG defeat.

He's 13/2 to cause a shock but I'm going to be even bolder and throw in the most 180s for Chizzy, who's always good for those, to make the price 12/1.

Phil Taylor (2/1) v Peter Wright (10/11) (Draw 7/2)

I've not really got a gut instinct on this one and I think it's tough to call in terms of picking a winner. There's pros and cons for both players but my crystal ball is a little cloudy.

However, regardless of who wins I don't believe this will be a classic and I like the Match Action market where you can get 7/2 on their being under 6.5 180s, a checkout of under 122.5 and less than 11.5 total legs.

It's the legs line which particularly grabbed my attention as this just needs the match not to go the distance. 

Obviously the way Taylor beat Anderson last week with seven straight legs was unforgettable but we can’t forget how poor he started the match to fall 4-0 down. You can’t expect to reel in top opposition like that all the time. And he didn’t look like doing the same during his 7-3 defeat against Chizzy.  

If Wright manages this game well then Taylor won't be able to afford another slow start.

The checkout mark is testing enough so the thing that worries me mainly is the maximums, but Taylor’s liking to switch means he probably won't contribute many.

Put it this way, going over on all those three marks seems a very ugly option.

Gary Anderson (4/5) v Raymond van Barneveld (9/4) (Draw 4/1)

By contrast this one should be a real treat and I'm going to over on the Match Action market at 4/1 that there will be over 7.5 180s, a checkout of over 122.5 and more than 10.5 legs.

These are two of the best high out guys going and extremely prolific with 180s and it doesn’t even have to go the full distance either.

The argument against this bet is their performances last week. Gary was rope-a-doped by Taylor after making a good start but I wouldn't put too much on that as it was a pretty unusual circumstance.

Barney didn't turn up on his birthday but he was playing MVG on the back of a lot of travelling so don't read too much into that either.

More importantly the winner of this will be in a very nice position and they'll both be well up for producing their best. 

I also like the 9/1 for Barney in the Player Performance market which requires him to win, score over 3.5 180s and have a checkout over 99.5.

For how he’s been playing this season (50 180s and 10 checkouts over 100), the latter two parts are modest targets so the hardest part is the win.

He had lost the last 11 matches against Anderson until he overcame that monkey on his back to beat him in Rotterdam, where he had a 156 checkout and hit five 180s.

Of the two I'd say Anderson is under more pressure because finishing in the top four was widely expected of him whereas Barney is almost playing with house money. Nobody would consider it a failure if he didn’t make it.

This bet ideally needs Anderson playing well to spur on Barney and this will also suit our Match Action option. 

Adrian Lewis (11/2) v Michael van Gerwen (1/3) (Draw 11/2)

I picked Adrian to do the match treble earlier in the night at a relatively modest 5/2 but for him to do the same (win, most 180s, highest checkout) against MVG is massive 28/1!

The 11/2 for him to win is interesting enough because I don’t think he should be such a big outsider given his potential of producing such high quality darts and his current overall form.

Obviously what you have against him is the world number one's ruthless consistency and if your player isn't on their game then you’ve lost the bet before it even starts.

But if they are then you have a chance and for the reasons mentioned earlier I think Adrian could have one of his best weeks. And the 180s and the high checkouts come naturally when he delivers his best.

I’m not saying I expect MVG to lose twice in one night but for both matches I wouldn't want to lump on at those prices against dangerous opponents and I feel he could slip up in either.  

Premier League Darts 2017 Table

MVG P 12 W 8 D 3 L 1 LegD +26 Pts 19
Wright P 13 W 7 D 3 L 3 LegD +15 Pts 17
Taylor P 13 W 6 D 3 L 4 LegD +5 Pts 15
Anderson P 13 W 5 D 4 L 4 LegD +8 Pts 14
RVB P 13 W 6 D 2 L 5 LegD +1 Pts 14
Lewis P 12 W 6 D 1 L 5 LegD +3 Pts 13
Chisnall P 13 W 5 D 2 L 6 LegD -7 Pts 12
Wade P 13 W 4 D 2 L 7 LegD -12 Pts 10
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 

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