The 2017 Premier League Darts season continues tonight (Thursday March 30) at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, featuring Michael van Gerwen's clash with Dave Chisnall and a crucial encounter between Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis.

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.

Darth Maple also reflects on the last week in darts, which cultimated in success for Peter Wright in Germany, before revealing his best bets for all five games in Cardiff, which will be screened live on Sky Sports from 1900 GMT...  

Part on Wright & MVG...

It was a case of persistence paying off for Peter Wright at the weekend, as he finally beat Michael van Gerwen in a final to win the German Darts Championship.

If you keep knocking loud enough on the door, eventually it will open and now his confidence is really growing.

It reminds me of when I was trying to beat Phil Taylor in a final for the first time – and did so at the fourth time of asking when winning my first PDC world title – although Wright’s run was much longer having lost nine previous finals against him.

For Wright it’s another box ticked having also won his first major title at the UK Open, where he took full advantage of MVG’s injury-forced absence, and he’s continuing to prove there’s now a ‘big three’ at the very top of the sport rather than just two.

The weekend’s success may not count as a TV title or have quite the same prestige but the atmosphere and environment of the tournament, which was also streamed across the internet, means it must be considered a significant point in his career.

It was also an excellent recovery from Thursday’s defeat to Phil Taylor in the Premier League – in stark contrast to MVG’s double disappointment having also lost to Barney in Manchester.

Looking ahead to this week, this is where the ‘true table’ will emerge with everyone having played each other once and it has the potential to tighten up even more as far as the race for the top four is concerned if James Wade beats Barney.

I believe the match of the night could well be Gary Anderson’s clash with Adrian Lewis, while I sense the now relegated Jelle Klassen could cause one of the upsets of the seasons in his last match… 

Premier League Darts: Week nine predictions

Click on each match for more Sky Bet odds

Peter Wright (2/5) v Kim Huybrechts (9/2) (Draw 5/1)

**KIM HUYBRECHTS HAS NOW WITHDRAW DUE TO FAMILY REASONS AND WRIGHT GETS A 7-0 WIN**

I've already mentioned above about the confidence Peter Wright is feeling right now, especially after bouncing back so well from his defeat to Phil Taylor last week, and he'll be hungry to win this clash and stay one point behind MVG.

He beat Huybrechts at the weekend en route to winning his title in Germany although Kim has, of course, got more important concerns going on in his life right now regarding his mother.

His relegation last week takes pressure of his shoulders and this could free him up, making him potentially dangerous in the 180s markets – although sometimes having nothing riding on a match can affect focus.

Therefore, rather than doubling up Wright to win with the most 180s, I'll instead combine the high checkout at 10/11 while my other suggested bet is backing Snakebite in the Player Performance market at 100/30.

This requires him to win, hit four or more 180s and manage a checkout of over 106.5.

I believe these targets are relatively modest for someone of his standards and although a one-sided victory is a trap, which would lessens his chances of achieving the 180s part of the treble, Kim should play well enough to force him into some quality darts. 

Phil Taylor (1/5) v Jelle Klaasen (8/1) (Draw 7/1)

Even before I looked at the odds, I thought this was a potential banana peel for Phil - but I didn’t expect the prices to be so generous.

So this is my bet of the week – Jelle Klaasen to win and hit the most 180s at a massive 16/1. 

Although Phil should win, he’s not as strong a favourite as the 1/5 price indicates so I'm going to call out the bookies on this one as I think they're out of line. 

Klaasen's odds of 8/1 is too big alone and if he does pull off the shock then more 180s are likely. They've actually hit the same number so far – 17 - despite their contrasting seasons while Phil likes switching to 19s. If Jelle can raise his game enough to get that win then the 180s should be a significant factor.

So why shouldn't he be written off? His problems this season have mostly occurred at key times under pressure rather than a general lack of quality but after suffering relegation last week, he has no pressure to deal with anymore.

He's had an ongoing wrist problem to deal with but last weekend's evidence in Germany suggests is coping better with that having beaten the likes of Dave Chisnall and Benito van de Pas in reaching the semi-finals.

And he doesn't have any notable issue playing Phil either - he's beaten him in two of their last four meetings including that memorable victory at the 2015 world championship.

Whereas Klaasen has no pressure to deal with, Taylor has and he knows he needs a win to stay firmly in touch with the top four.

I'm not saying you should expect Phil to lose but it's one of those occasions where the prices seem wrong and there’s enough reason to take advantage. The 8/1 is good but I’m going for glory with the 16/1! 

Gary Anderson (4/6) v Adrian Lewis (11/4) (Draw 4/1)

I expect this to be the most entertaining match of the night between two players who need the points in the race for the top four.

Both of them missed the weekend’s European Tour event as their focus is firmly on the Premier League so preparing for this clash will have been their top priority.

We know Adrian can be inconsistent and there’s no guarantees he'll produce his best but he'll be there to play and push Anderson all the way.

I circled the draw at 4/1 as I expect this to go deep but in conjunction with all this I’m also going to flag up the Match Action bet at 9/2.

This requires eight or more 180s to be hit, a checkout of over 121.5 and more than 10.5 legs to be played.

They've hit 52 maximums combined in the Premier League this season so this target should be straight forward while both of them can pull out the high finishes in pressurised matches of high quality.

Raymond van Barneveld (5/6) v James Wade (9/4) (Draw 4/1)

Barney is going really well right now but backing him can always be a bit scary because he fluctuates from highs to lows. One minute he feels he can be world champion again, the next he's talking about quitting!

I tipped Barney at 28/1 each-way at the start of the season and although he's now 16/1 following last week’s memorable win over MVG, it's still a good price considering he's in a great position and could probably even afford a couple of bad weeks.

Now Barney certainly has momentum, which James has lost and he may find it hard to get that snowball rolling down the hill again this week. 

There was no shame in losing to MVG last week but then he was beaten by Darren Johnson in the first round of the German Darts Championship at the weekend. Johnson is a seasoned campaigner but Wade should still be good enough to come through these tests.

He's had a good Premier League season on the whole but the pressure is all of a sudden on him now for the first time.

With Barney odds-on favourite, I'm going to instead back him to win, score more 180s than Wade and hit the highest checkout of the match at 5/2.

He's one of the best high finishers around - and crucially at key pressure points – and the 180s should be the safest part of the treble considering he's hit 34 of them so far compared to Wade's 13.

Michael van Gerwen (2/9) v Dave Chisnall (7/1) (Draw 13/2)

How can Chizzy be a shorter price at 7/1 to beat MVG than Klaasen is to beat Taylor? 

He may not be eliminated like Jelle but he’s effectively a dead duck and won’t make the top four while he’s got an absolutely dire record against Michael, losing their last 13 games and most of them comprehensively. 

I’m not saying he should be a longer price - but not shorter than Jelle.

Chizzy has the sort of game with his 180s and high scoring to mix it with MVG but he’s cowered at every occasion and I expect a similar story in Cardiff.

MVG is 2/9 for the win but I'll throw in the high checkout as well to boost those odds to 8/13, which is a better strategy than combining the 180s given Chizzy’s strength on those even in a heavy defeat. 

Premier League Darts 2017 Table

*Updated after Wright's 7-0 default win over Huybrechts

Wright P 9 W 6 D 1 L 2 LegD +16 Pts 13
MVG P 8 W 5 D 2 L 1 LegD +13 Pts 12
RVB P 8 W 4 D 2 L 2 LegD +3 Pts 10
Anderson P 8 W 3 D 3 L 2 LegD +6 Pts 9
Lewis P 8 W 4 D 1 L 3 LegD +4 Pts 9
Taylor P 8 W 3 D 3 L 2 LegD +3 Pts 9
Wade P 8 W 3 D 2 L 3 LegD +2 Pts 8
Chisnall P 8 W 3 D 0 L 5 LegD -10 Pts 6
Klaasen P 8 W 1 D 1 L 6 LegD -14 Pts 3
Huybrechts P 9 W 0 D 3 L 6 LegD -23 Pts 3 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SEASON FIXTURE LIST AND RESULTS