Three-time world champion John Part brings you his match-by-match analysis and predictions for tonight's Premier League Darts action in his weekly column.
The 2017 Premier League Darts season continues on Thursday May 4 at the Sheffield Arena, featuring an eagerly-anticipated clash between great rivals Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor.
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.
So here are Darth Maple's best bets for all four games in Sheffield, where he will be commentating on Sky Sports from 1900 GMT...
Premier League Darts: Week 14 predictions
JOHN PART'S TREBLE: WRIGHT, ANDERSON & MVG ALL TO WIN AT 2.33/1
Click on each match for more Sky Bet odds
Peter Wright (4/6) v Adrian Lewis (11/4) (Draw 4/1)
Peter Wright is in a relaxed frame of mind right now having secured his play-off spot and there isn't really any pressure on him this Thursday.
He obviously wouldn’t want to slip to fourth in the table but that’s unlikely while he’s probably given up on catching MVG with just two weeks to go – so you could question his motivation levels this week.
But he is throwing well right now and hit a nine-darter on Sunday during a Players Championship event, where he finished runner-up to Gary Anderson.
Adrian Lewis has fallen away badly having looked great not that long ago with a nine-darter in Liverpool and last week’s hammering to MVG after losing to James Wade capped a miserable night in Birmingham.
But he has a habit of burning you both ways and it’s always hard to work out which Adrian Lewis will turn up. You back him one week and it’s the bad one, you oppose him the other and it’s the best one.
You’ve got to be careful this week especially because out of the two players he’s the one with most to play for.
So instead of going in heavy on Wright at 4/6, a smaller stake on his Player Performance market at 9/2 is preferable and this requires him to win, score over 3.5 180s and have a checkout of over 104.5.
The targets are pretty ordinary for Peter and even if the right Adrian turns up, it should spur him on even more to make them. Let’s just hope he doesn’t play too well to win!
Raymond van Barneveld (11/10) v Dave Chisnall (7/4) (Draw 7/2)
This could be a crazy match and I've bailed out on calling a winner.
Chizzy has been playing so well to give himself a chance of making the top four but you can’t trust him to finish matches off having missed his fair share of match darts recently, including last week against MVG when I backed him to cause an upset!
It’s also so important to Raymond, who will see this as his most winnable remaining game as he tries to get above Phil Taylor into fourth place.
He didn’t play at the weekend so you can expect to see a rested Barney giving it a real go – it’s his big night.
The worst case scenario is losing, followed by wins for Gary and Phil which would rule him out of making the play-offs so if he thinks about that possibility then this becomes a must-win match. He knows Phil can produce magic to beat MVG and won’t by any means see it as a guarantee that he loses.
With all this in mind, I’m expecting a long match of a very high standard and will therefore pick the Match Action bet of 11/2 that there are over 7.5 180s, a checkout of more than 121.5 and over 11.5 total legs.
Their form can be in and out but you can always expect plenty of 180s from both players (106 between them so far in the Premier League this season) and high outs - particularly from Barney, who has six over the required target this season. Even Chizzy has managed to do it four times.
James Wade (7/2) v Gary Anderson (1/2) (Draw 9/2)
Gary Anderson was a man on a mission last Thursday and carried that form into the latest Players Championship weekend when he beat MVG and Peter Wright to win Sunday’s title. He only lost 12 legs all day across his seven matches and four of those were against Michael.
When he’s in that kind of mood he’s very hard to stop and that bodes well for this week as he looks to make sure of his place in the play-offs.
And if he does make it to London – which he looks set to do – then there’s no reason why he can’t win the whole thing.
His outright price of 11/2 third favourite looks way too big because if he finishes second or third in the table then there’s no way he’ll be a longer price than Peter Wright. And in a field of four, he wouldn’t be much longer than MVG, who he beat at the weekend.
He’s only this price now because there’s the slight possibility he may not make it whereas Peter is already a lock in. If he beats James on Thursday to all-but seal his spot then that 11/2 should shorten significantly.
Even you feel strongly about the chances of either Taylor (20/1) and Barney (25/1) to make the top four then you should take those prices now too.
As far as this match on Thursday goes, I’ve got to roll with Gary.
The only caveat is James is now the black sheep of the group and has nothing to lose. And if Anderson feels a bit complacent then there is a chance he loses focus, especially against someone he gets on so well with.
But the fear factor of missing out on the play-offs should stop that potential lapse.
James is always business-like even when his luck is out but business-like shouldn’t be enough to trouble Anderson on a mission.
He won’t roll over – I’d never tar him with that brush – but I don’t think he’ll be able to keep up.
Anderson is 1/2 for the win but he’s even-money if you back him to do so with the most 180s. He’s hit 46 of them so far in the Premier League compared to James’ 19 so this is a really good way to boost the price.
Michael van Gerwen (1/3) v Phil Taylor (5/1) (Draw 11/2)
I doubt MVG cares about Phil’s situation in the table and he’s probably not even thinking about it. If anything, helping to eliminate him before the play-offs means he can’t lose to him later.
He’ll be more concerned with locking up top spot with a week to go or achieving other targets such as his first career Premier League nine-darter – it’s crazy he hasn’t managed one yet!
Because Michael wants to be seen as the best player ever he’s always good for creating extra goals for himself to keep him motivated and I’m sure one will even be topping Peter Wright’s highest three-dart average of the season of 119.5.
So there’s no reason to expect a complacent performance even though he's almost assured of top spot and it’s hard to imagine Phil living with him on Thursday.
He didn’t look as though he believed he could beat him despite being 3-0 up in Rotterdam and only managed to win one of the next eight legs although the home crowd factor isn’t in Michael’s favour this time.
Phil will also have in the back of his mind that he’s got to play Adrian Lewis in his final game next week – someone he usually beats – whereas Barney has a tough match against Peter Wright. So if he loses this then he won’t think it’s all over.
It would be out of his control but he’d still be in with a good shout.
I’m going to back MVG in the match treble of winning, hitting the most 180s and managing the highest checkout at 5/4.
Taylor has had a bunch of 180s in clusters recently but MVG has the clear edge in this area of the game and if he claims the comprehensive victory I expect then the high out also has a good chance. It’s more than a reasonable limb to walk out on.
Premier League Darts 2017 Table
MVG P 14 W 9 D 4 L 1 LegD +33 Pts 22
Wright P 14 W 8 D 3 L 3 LegD +19 Pts 19
Anderson P 14 W 6 D 4 L 4 LegD +11 Pts 16
Taylor P 14 W 6 D 3 L 5 LegD +1 Pts 15
RVB P 14 W 6 D 2 L 6 LegD -2 Pts 14
Lewis P 14 W 6 D 1 L 7 LegD -7 Pts 13
Chisnall P 14 W 5 D 3 L 6 LegD -7 Pts 13
Wade P 14 W 5 D 2 L 7 LegD -9 Pts 12
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
