Sporting Life
Gerwyn Price and Luke Littler
Gerwyn Price and Luke Littler

Premier League Darts 2024: Night three predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and Sky Sports TV time

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Fri February 16, 2024 · 9M ago

The Cazoo Premier League Darts regular season continues in Glasgow on Thursday night so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match guide to the action.

Darts betting tips: Premier League night 3

1pt over 8.5 legs, high checkout over 100.5 & over 4.5 180s in Cross v Smith at 11/10 (Sky Bet)

1pt Peter Wright (+2.5 legs) v Michael van Gerwen at 7/5 (Ladbrokes, Coral)

1pt Nathan Aspinall (+1.5 legs) v Luke Humphries at 5/4 (Ladbrokes, Coral)

1pt Gerwyn Price to beat Luke Littler at 6/4 (Betfred)

1pt Aspinall v Humphries to produce most 180s in the QFs at 15/8 (Sky Bet)

SL Acca: 0.5pts Cross, Wright (+2.5), Aspinall (+1.5) & Price at 25/1 with Sky Bet

*LAST WEEK'S ACCA WON AT 9/2

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Thursday February 15: Night Three

  • TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
  • Format: Quarter-Finals, best of 11 legs
  • Venue: Glasgow

Rob Cross (19/20) v Michael Smith (4/5)

  • Head to Head: 18-6 (TV: 11-5)
  • 2024 PL Average: 95.21 - 97.88
  • 2024 PL 180s per leg: 0.14 - 0.38
  • 2024 PL checkout percentage: 30.95% - 48.33%
  • 2024 PL legs won with 100+ C/O: 15.38% - 13.79%

Michael Smith heads into week three as the table-topper after picking up four wins in the opening two rounds of action - and it could so easily have been back-to-back finals had he pipped Michael van Gerwen in a last-leg decider in Berlin.

Although he endured a poor opening to the Pro Tour season earlier this week with two defeats from three games, in which he averaged just under 93, Rob Cross didn't fare much better as he failed to ventured beyond the last 64 in either tournament.

It's hard to pick a winner really when you take overall form in all competitions into consideration and it has all the makings of a close encounter with plenty of crowd pleasing moments.

Smith has been firing in the 180s at a rate of 0.38 per leg in the Premier League this season and we know Cross can be far more prolific than his 0.14 while they've contributed six of the 16 100+ checkouts in the tournament so far, with Bully Boy managing four.

Verdict: 6-5

CLICK HERE to back over 8.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 100.5 and over 4.5 total 180s with Sky Bet

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Michael van Gerwen (1/8) v Peter Wright (9/2)

  • Head to Head: 74-25, 2 draws (TV: 41-9, 2 draws)
  • 2024 PL Average: 101.33 - 89.11
  • 2024 PL 180s per leg: 0.42 - 0.11
  • 2024 PL checkout percentage: 46.94% - 38.89%
  • 2024 PL legs won with 100+ C/O: 4.34% - N/A

It would be a stretch to say 'Peter Wright is back' based on one run to a Players Championship semi-final run on Tuesday, especially when he 'only' averaged 92.61 across his six matches.

Snakebite did, however, show plenty more character throughout the day than we've seen from him in recent times and pushed a rampant Gary Anderson close in a 7-5 defeat despite a massive disparity on the averages; 108 v 93.42.

Even last week he gave Luke Humphries a run for his money in the quarter-finals, losing 6-4 with a 94 average compared to the world champion's 103.63 so there are signs that he's becoming competitive again.

Michael van Gerwen skipped the Pro Tour action but is clearly playing at very high level at the moment - especially last week when he averaged over 100 in all three matches en route to the title - but they were also close, even a 6-4 triumph over Nathan Aspinall who battled away with a 94 average.

In short-format darts, no scoreline is a surprise and if any player is a chunky price just to reach four legs on the handicap then it feels like a chance worth taking.

Verdict: 6-4

CLICK HERE to back Peter Wright (+2.5 legs) on the handicap with Sky Bet

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Nathan Aspinall (9/4) v Luke Humphries (1/3)

  • Head to Head: 4-3 (TV: 2-0)
  • 2024 PL Average: 91.33 - 100.79
  • 2024 PL 180s per leg: 0.35 - 0.38
  • 2024 PL checkout percentage: 32.00% - 33.33%
  • 2024 PL legs won with 100+ C/O: 12.25% - 7.69%

There are mild concerns that Luke Humphries has hit the buffers since becoming world champion in a similar fashion to Michael Smith and while his dip in form probably won't last too long, it's given us enough reason to back Nathan Aspinall to spring a minor surprise.

Now, it must first be acknowledged that his two defeats in three Premier League matches this season have both come against Luke Littler and in the second one of those last week he averaged 104 in a 6-5 semi-final defeat.

Humphries, who also lost to the teenage sensation on the World Series Tour in January, suffered an early Masters exit to eventual champion Stephen Bunting so there really weren't any alarm bells being sounded until this week's Pro Tour action in which he averaged 81.37 in a bizarre 6-0 defeat to Ian White in Players Championship 1 and then crashed out in the opening round of the second tournament to Jurjen van der Velde.

That aura of invincibility that he'd built up over three months of winning majors seems to have vanished for the time being and Aspinall will no doubt show every part of his battling instincts to smell the blood and embroil his opponent into a war of attrition.

It'll be a close call and I therefore expect this match to produce most 180s given their combined firepower, while Aspinall should be backed on the handicap.

Verdict: 6-5

CLICK HERE to back Nathan Aspinall (+1.5 legs) on the handicap with Sky Bet

CLICK HERE to back Aspinall v Humphries to have most 180s with Sky Bet

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Gerwyn Price (11/8) v Luke Littler (8/15)

  • Head to Head: 0-2 (TV: 0-2)
  • 2024 PL Average: 99.59 - 101.80
  • 2024 PL 180s per leg: 0.14 - 0.29
  • 2024 PL checkout percentage: 43.18% - 44.44%
  • 2024 PL legs won with 100+ C/O: 26.31% - 7.14%

Gerwyn Price and Luke Littler both hit the darting headlines for totally different reasons in Wigan on Monday and there'll only be one of them hoping it'll be a cold February night in Glasgow.

While the 17-year-old sensation was cruising through the rounds of his debut Players Championship event with 100+ averages and a nine-dart finish, the Iceman sensationally quit when trailing Brendan Dolan 4-2 citing "absolutely pathetic conditions" at a freezing Robin Park Tennis Centre.

Littler went on to become the youngest winner of a Pro Tour event, averaging 109 in a tremendous final with Ryan Searle - who also seemed immune to the cold - although the following day he finally looked human when averaging 88 in a 6-5 defeat to Radek Szaganski.

Price, however, didn't even show up on day two but it's important to mention that he averaged 110 and 101 in his two matches before his implosion against Dolan so he's definitely not suffering with a form crisis.

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Gerwyn Price wasn't happy with the conditions in Wigan

The Welshman is also averaging around 100 across his four matches in the Premier League and the only time he dropped below 100 was against Michael Smith in the opening night final in Cardiff.

He was soundly beaten by Littler in their two World Series meetings in January and struggled to produce anywhere near his best so if he can get back to 100+ average level in favourable conditions then expect him to push Littler close.

Verdict: 6-5

CLICK HERE to back Gerwyn Price to win with Sky Bet

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