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Premier League Darts: Night three predictions, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Thu February 21, 2019 · 6y ago

The Premier League Darts season hits Dublin on Thursday night and our guide to the action includes match-by-match predictions, order of play, Sky Bet odds and three suggested accas.

2019 Premier League season fixtures
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We're only into week three of the Premier League Darts season but just one player boasts a 100% record and none of the permanent nine are without at least a point.

Unsurprisingly it's Michael van Gerwen with two wins from two and he's looking to extend that record against Rob Cross in Dublin while two of the winless trio in Raymond van Barneveld and Mensur Suljovic meet in a crucial clash at the end of the night.

This week's 'Gary Anderson replacement' is home favourite Steve Lennon as he makes his Premier League bow against Peter Wright while last year's runner-up Michael Smith is seeking his first win of the campaign against Daryl Gurney and the other two fixture is Gerwyn Price v James Wade.

Below I run through all the fixtures, complete with head-to-head records, match verdicts, bets and an acca.

Premier League Night Three: Thursday February 21

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
Format: Maximum of 12 legs

Accumulators

Treble: Price, Cross & Smith 25/1

Four Fold: Price, Cross, Smith & Barney 90/1

Draw no bet accas: The above accas are 12/1 and 31/1 respectively if done 'draw no bet'

Gerwyn Price (11/8) v James Wade (11/8), draw (3/1)

Head-to-head: 3-6
Meetings since start of 2018: 0-3
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 2-2
Career Titles: 4-30

It's fair to say when Gerwyn Price lost to James Wade for the third time in a row at the Masters earlier this month - a streak that dates back to 2017 - he'd lost his mojo.

The Grand Slam of Darts champion, who has been roundly booed by the lion's share of darts fans since that bad-tempered victory over Gary Anderson last November, never got going in a 10-7 defeat and rarely displayed his trademark celebrations having recently been hit with that mammoth £21,500 fine and three-month suspended sentence.

It also meant he'd also lost his last three TV matches dating back to his crowning moment in Wolverhampton, also falling at the first hurdles in both the Players Championship Finals and PDC World Championship.

However, since then he's perked up no end - not just by being himself on the oche albeit without stopping over the mark but more importantly with his overall performances.

He averaged 104 in claiming his first Premier League victory at the 10th attempt and it could so easily have been two in a row had Raymond van Barneveld not produced a Houdini act from 6-2 down last week.

The Welshman bounced back from the disappointment at the weekend by reaching the semi-finals of Players Championship Four, beating Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall along the way before losing an epic to the eventual winner Glen Durrant, who averaged 109 compared to Price's 103.

Wade only won two matches across the weekend but don't let this overshadow his overall form which helped him reach the Masters final and make a solid start to the Premier League.

The European and World Series champion produced a clinical finishing performance to see off Barney 7-4 in week one and although he lost to Rob Cross by the same scoreline last week, he still averaged 100.

Nevertheless I feel Price, who is acclimatising to the booing somewhat, is playing his best darts for a while and is a good bet to win and hit the most 180s at 11/4.

Scoreline prediction: 7-4

Suggested bet: Price to win and hit most 180s at 11/4

Steve Lennon (9/2) v Peter Wright (2/5), draw (4/1)

Head-to-head: 0-3
Meetings since start of 2018: 0-1
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 0-2
Career Titles: 0-22

Peter Wright is still without a win in the Premier League this season but he hasn't lost either thanks to a pair of highly entertaining draws.

On opening night he averaged over 101 and hit nearly 55% of his doubles in a fine display against Rob Cross only to miss a match dart in the 12th leg and last week he came from 5-2 down to rescue a draw against Michael Smith despite averaging 10 points lower with 88.

Snakebite is still searching for consistency and confidence following a largely disappointing 2018 and the weekend didn't do too much to help, falling at the first hurdle to Scott Baker on Sunday, although he did reach the quarter-finals on Saturday - albeit with a fairly easy draw before losing to Chris Dobey.

Nevertheless this should be an ideal opportunity to get come momentum because, as he explained in the Sporting Life Darts Podcast, he'd much rather be facing Steve Lennon than Gary Anderson.

Not that we should underestimate the rising Irish star, who has risen to 37th in the world just two years after earning his PDC Tour Card thanks largely to a breakthrough 2018 in which he appeared at the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship and Players Championship Finals.

He won't be fazed by the atmosphere and if anything he's relishing the prospect of a walk-on which could be just as spine-tingling as the one Dobey received in Newcastle.

However, Lennon's early season form hasn't been much to write home about and at the weekend he won just a single game across both tournaments.

I think Wright will triumph but I like the Player Performance market which gives him modest targets of over 2.5 180s and a checkout of over 84.5.

Scoreline prediction: 3-7

Suggested bet: Wright to win, hit over 2.5 180s and have a checkout of over 84.5 at 2/1

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Michael van Gerwen (2/5) v Rob Cross (9/2), draw (4/1)

Head-to-head: 11-3
Meetings since start of 2018: 3-1
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 22-2
Career Titles: 120-7

You never have to wait too long for Michael van Gerwen to serve up something special and he duly delivered at the weekend with an audacious nine-dart finish without the aid of a 180 en route to winning yet another title.

The world champion, who has started the new season with a fifth successive Masters, two Players Championship titles out of four and a pair of Premier League victories, 'only' averaged 100+ on three occasions on Saturday, including 105 against Ian White in the final, while the other games being mid to low 90s.

And a day later he was dramatically caught cold by World Championship semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall, who defied MVG's average of 103 and punishing his slack finishing by thumping him 6-1 in the last 16. Yes, 6-1.

One could say this is a recipe for disaster as far as Rob Cross is concerned because not only does van Gerwen has momentum of another title in the bank but he also has reason to be angry too!

However, I've really been impressed with how Voltage has been playing of late and feel a shock is on the cards in Dublin on Thursday night.

The former world champion may have endured a tough 2018 with all the pressures and the new experiences but it's clear to see a lot of weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

After that high quality draw with Peter Wright on opening night, he averaged 102.58 in a classy 7-4 victory over James Wade in which he also pinned 50% of his doubles while his overall average in his nine Players Championship matches across the weekend was 102.31.

Having lost to John Henderson 6-5 in Saturday's third round with a mark of 106.5, he posted 100+ averages in five of his six games on Sunday and frustratingly his 105.4 wasn't good enough to see off Dimitri van den Bergh in the semi-finals.

Cross hasn't played van Gerwen since last summer in the Brisbane Masters but he won that one and I reckon he's a spot of value in the draw no bet market at 7/2.

Scoreline prediction: 5-7

Suggested bet: Cross to win (draw no bet) at 7/2

Michael Smith (1/1) v Daryl Gurney (2/1), draw (10/3)

Head-to-head: 6-3 (1 draw)
Meetings since start of 2018: 1-1-1
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 3-1
Career Titles: 11-3

Ordinarily I'd be pretty strong about Michael Smith's chances of winning this encounter but I'm just a bit cautious given the unnecessary pressure that could potentially be starting to build.

Having almost scraped a point against Michael van Gerwen in a repeat of the World Championship final in Newcastle, he then blew one in his 6-6 draw with Peter Wright in which he led 5-2 and ended up having to win the last leg despite having a 98 average compared to Snakebite's 88.

Bully Boy admitted he didn't practice as much as he'd usually do in January due to his honeymoon and in a game of such fine margins, that could feasibly be a reason for his stuttering start to the campaign in which he's managed to reach just one quarter-final from the four Players Championship events.

It's only a matter of time before he gets firing on all cylinders again and challenge seriously for titles but Daryl Gurney will sense this as an ideal time to play him, even if he's not in great form himself.

The 2018 Players Championship Finals winner denied Glen Durrant a dream Premier League debut last week thanks to lethal finishing of seven doubles hit out of nine but apart from that he's been pretty inconsistent and hasn't gone beyond the last 32 of any of those four floor events in 2019.

It's a tough one to call so my best bet is for this match to go quite deep with over 10.5 legs, a checkout of over 101.5 and more than 5.5 180s at 5/4.

Scoreline prediction: 7-5

Suggested bet: Match to have over 10.5 legs, have a checkout of over 101.5 and more than 5.5 180s at 5/4

Mensur Suljovic (5/6) v Raymond van Barneveld (5/2), draw (10/3)

Head-to-head: 3-6
Meetings since start of 2018: 0-2
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 2-0
Career Titles: 5-41

Raymond van Barneveld's stunning comeback against Gerwyn Price proved just why he retains the People's Champion title - and hopefully there'll be a more tangible reward to come during his final year before retirement.

Having seemed so down before the season got under way as he reflected further on the reasons why he'd be calling it a day, he then slumped to an opening defeat to James Wade thanks to some slopping finishing and then suffered a poor weekend in the first two Players Championship events.

At 6-2 down to an extremely confident Price, a nightmare Premier League campaign was starting to look very possible until he turned it around to spark wild scenes of celebration, even if it was just for a point.

Given how MVG is the only player with a 100% record, that draw will keep Barney firmly motivated for a top four spot although victory over winless Mensur Suljovic is crucial.

Whereas the Dutchman skipped the weekend's Players Championship events, Suljovic did compete in both having missed the first two although the furthest he got was on Sunday when losing to Glen Durrant in the last 16.

Suljovic is averaging just over 100 across both his Premier League games so far but he was held to a draw by Chris Dobey in week one before being soundly beaten 7-3 by MVG last week.

Having suffered relegation last season despite some fine performance, he may well be wondering what he's doing wrong and if there are any doubts in his mind then Barney must be ruthless and go in for the kill.

Barney should be nicely rested and in a positive frame of mind after last week so I'll keep this one simple and back him at a tasty 5/2.

Scoreline prediction: 4-7

Suggested bet: Barney to win at 5/2