Premier League Darts predictions & odds for week five

The 2017 Premier League Darts season continues on Thursday March 2 at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter, featuring Gary Anderson's clash with Phil Taylor, and here John Part previews the action in his weekly Sporting Life column.

***THIS PREVIEW WAS WRITTEN BEFORE MVG WAS RULED OUT BY INJURY***

Over the coming months Part, who triumphed in two PDC World Championship finals against Phil Taylor and Kirk Shepherd to add to his BDO crown of 1994, will 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.

But before providing his best bets for Thursday's games in Exeter, which will be screened live on Sky Sports from 1900 GMT, Darth Maple also has a few words of advice ahead of this weekend's UK Open Finals...

Part on the UK Open...

As well as this week’s Premier League games, everyone bar Phil Taylor will also have their mind on the weekend’s UK Open Finals in Minehead and that could cause a mysterious ‘no show’ or two on Thursday night. 

It’s the only major tournament that intrudes on the Premier League season and it would be no surprise to see some distracted performances – even though a good display in Exeter will boost their confidence levels for the following days.

Whereas the likes of Adrian Lewis, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade will be hoping to end their long waits for another major title, Peter Wright is still waiting to get that monkey off his back by winning his first on TV. 

I used to dread that winding, arduous drive to Minehead and even the smallest sounding factors like that, when you’re thinking about planning your preparations for a major event the next day, could affect players mindsets this week.

Therefore, in terms of your UK Open bets, don’t read too much into Thursday’s performances unless of course there’s an outstanding display – as that can only help.

Premier League Darts: Week five predictions

Click on each match for more Sky Bet odds

JOHN PART'S TREBLE: Klaasen, Anderson & Wright all to win at 7.74/1 

Dave Chisnall (2/1) v Raymond van Barneveld (1/1) (Draw 7/2) 

Chizzy doesn’t seem to like being first up having soundly lost the last two times he’s opened the night and he doesn’t like playing Barney either, losing five of their last six. There have been frailties from Barney at times this season but not as much as Chizzy, who is struggling right now. He’s not having a lot of joy at weekends either and that affects your confidence. James Wade and Peter Wright are examples of how good weekends can translate into solid Premier League displays as it gives you a body of work to feel good about.  Chizzy and Kim Huybrechts are stuck in a bad loop of bad weekends and bad PL nights. Barney is a funny cat but he is in the hunt and that will keep him motivated. He can get negative but he’ll only be irked at the moment that he hasn’t had more wins. Overall he’s in a stronger position mentally so I’m going to back him to win with the highest checkout at 11/5. I’m going to keep the 180s out of it given Chizzy is always dangerous on those.

Jelle Klaasen (5/4) v Kim Huybrechts (6/4) (Draw 7/2) 

This is a pretty crucial clash in the battle to avoid relegation. Kim’s point against Phil Taylor last week is a good result but he should have had two and was disappointed not to have won. He just seems to be thinking too much at crucial times and awareness in difficult situations isn’t your friend. There was plenty made of his premature celebrations against Phil and unless that genuinely is his natural way of acting, he ought to just focus on his game than trying to build a stage presence. As far as this season goes, Jelle is riding more of wave even though he was on zero points in the Premier League before last week’s fine win against Dave Chisnall. He played well in his previous matches against the top three guys in MVG, Anderson and Wright but those opponents all did a good job on him. These results drove him into a hole which can make the ‘easier’ following games more pressurised – so his performance against Chizzy was all the more encouraging. Overall I just think Klaasen has performed better and while he goes into my treble this week, I’m also going to back him at 5/1 to win, hit most 180s and have the higher checkout. 

Gary Anderson (8/11) v Phil Taylor (5/2) (Draw 4/1) 

Gary can’t have been thrilled by last week’s draw with James Wade and in the first of the weekend’s Players Championship events on Saturday he was shocked by rank outsider Peter Jacques, who went on to reach the final. But he bounced back so impressively on the Sunday, thrashing Peter Wright 6-1 in the final and only once dropped more than two legs in any of his seven matches. So he heads into this clash on a high while he’s also looking to maintain this vein of form ahead of this weekend’s UK Open, which Taylor isn’t involved in. He’s also in need of the points and he’ll see this as a great chance to move into the upper echelons of the table properly. It would be a fantastic two points for Phil and he’ll be motivated for this even if he downplays it – but he may try too hard as he knows Anderson is the better player these days. Anderson’s semi-final victory in the Masters underlined that mindset and it must feel similar for Taylor to when he plays MVG. I’m confident Anderson will win this clash but I’m also going to throw in the 180s to boost the price to 6/4. Taylor obviously likes to switch and if Anderson gets on a roll like he was on Sunday, he’ll be hard to stop.

Adrian Lewis (6/4) v Peter Wright (5/4) (Draw 7/2)

To see Peter priced at bigger than even-money to win is generous given his overall form and performances of late but it’s the 5/2 for him to beat Lewis and have the highest checkout that catches my eye. Whereas Peter enjoyed another solid weekend, Adrian’s was terrible, albeit hitting a nine-darter in a first-round loss on Sunday. That was probably the disinterested Adrian Lewis turning up rather it being because of a lack of talent and maybe he’s just focusing on the bigger picture like the Premier League and this weekend’s UK Open. He must be feeling more positive about the Premier League now after that great point against the world number one last week but he gives up too many points against the others. He’s lost to Wright in their last three meetings, including twice this year, so his opponent also has the mental edge.

***John Part previewed Michael van Gerwen's clash with James Wade before news of MVG's withdrawal due to injury. Wade will now play Dave Chisnall ***

Michael van Gerwen (1/5) v James Wade (8/1) (Draw 7/1)

James is enjoying a very nice season so far – not only is he unbeaten in the Premier League after four games but he’s been getting some good results on tour in the floor events, including this past weekend with runs to the semi-finals and quarter-finals of the two Players Championship tournaments. He also upset the odds in this fixture before having beaten MVG on opening night in the 2016 season so I wouldn’t advise any really heavy bets on Michael at such short odds. James is more capable of getting a result against MVG than I thought Adrian Lewis was last week and that was a draw. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll probably still win and should be fresh and recharged after missing the weekend’s events – but you’ll need to beef up your bet with bells and whistles to get some value rather than lumping on big. Therefore, a mild bet on the treble of MVG to win, hit most 180s and the highest checkout is 5/6 is one of the more preferable options. He’s obviously more dangerous than Wade on the 180s and is always fired up to hit the high outs – as he’s already proved with a 170 this season.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES & RESULTS 

Premier League Darts 2017 Table

MVG P 4 W 2 D 2 L 0 LegDiff +7 Pts 6
Taylor P 4 W 2 D 2 L 0 LegDiff +7 Pts 6
Wade P 4 W 2 D 2 L 0 LegDiff +5 Pts 6
Wright P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1 LegDiff +1 Pts 5
Anderson P 4 W 1 D 2 L 1 LegDiff +2 Pts 4
RVB P 4 W 1 D 2 L 1 LegDiff -1 Pts 4
Lewis P 4 W 1 D 1 L 2 LegDiff 0 Pts 3
Huybrechts P 4 W 0 D 2 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 2
Klaasen P 4 W 1 D 0 L 3 LegDiff -6 Pts 2
Chisnall P 4 W 1 D 0 L 3 LegDiff -10 Pts 2