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The Premier League Darts season begins in Cardiff

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

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Mon February 14, 2022 · 3y ago

Our match-by-match guide for night one of the new Cazoo Premier League Darts season includes statistics, predictions, best bets and an acca.

A radical 18th edition of Premier League Darts kicks off tonight at the same time as the inaugural World Seniors Championship, which features four of the original line-up back in 2005.

And two of this year's line-up include two players old enough to compete with that quartet of Phil Taylor, John Part, Peter Manley and Roland Scholten over at the iconic Circus Tavern!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO READ OUR WORLD SENIORS BETTING PREVIEW

Instead, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson are about to embark on the lucrative and hectic 17-week roadshow battling for points and prize money alongside Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, James Wade and Joe Cullen.

This new format of having quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final every Thursday night means, in theory, that one player could end up playing a total of 48 televised matches compared to the 17 of previous campaigns and while that's obviously ridiculously unlikely, they are all going to wrack up well over 20 and possibly more than 30.

In total there will be 115 matches for viewers to enjoy this season compared to the usual 76 but there is a question mark over whether seeing so many match-ups between the same players will get repetitive. Only time will tell on that front, but for now here's a preview of night one's four quarter-finals as well as a prediction of who will pick up the five points for landing the opening 'title'.

Darts betting tips: Premier League night one

1pt Clayton to win and Cullen to hit most 180s at 3/1 (Sky Bet)

1pt two or more 100+ checkouts in Price v Wade at 6/4 (Sky Bet)

1pt Smith to win and hit most 180s at 23/10 (Paddy Power, Boylesports)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

SL Acca: Clayton, Price, Smith & MVG all to win at 11/2 with Sky Bet

Thursday February 3: Night one session

TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
Format: Best of 11 legs

Jonny Clayton (4/7) v Joe Cullen (13/10)

Head to Head: 2-7 (TV: 2-1)
2021 Head to Head: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)

This time last year Jonny Clayton finally fulfilled his rich potential by becoming a major champion for the first time at the Masters and by the end of it he'd collected a further three TV titles, including the Premier League on debut, and become one of the most feared players on the planet.

The 2021 Fans Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season will fittingly open his campaign against Joe Cullen, who many feel will enjoy a similarly life-changing year on the back of his breakthrough - and emotional - maiden major at the season-opening Masters.

They could have met in Sunday's final had the Ferret not endured a rare 'off' performance in the semi-finals against Dave Chisnall - although it speaks volumes that he still averaged a highly creditable 98 in the 11-6 defeat and hit 46% of his doubles.

Clayton just couldn't get going like he did against Gerwyn Price just hours earlier when he averaged 104 and hit 67% of his doubles but he would have had his work cut out against the fired up Rockstar, who was a truly deserved winner of the event.

Cullen, who opened up with an easy 6-2 win over Daryl Gurney, thrashed Gary Anderson 10-1 with a 106 average on Saturday before soundly disposing of Michael van Gerwen 10-7 with an average of 93 before raising his average to 102 in a pivotal victory over Jose de Sousa.

He only needed a 96 average in the final but after a long weekend with such much pressure and emotion to deal with, that has to go down as an excellent performance and one which shows he belongs in this line-up.

Although the Bradford man is still on the crest of a wave, I still expect home favourite Clayton to bounce back and win this clash that will feature many 180s.

The Welshman fired in 13 maximums during 54 over the weekend (0.24 per leg) which is admittedly less that we'd expect from him but Cullen weighed in with 24 in 73 legs (0.32 per leg) which is pretty much the kind of stunning ratio we saw from him last season.

Scoreline Prediction: 6-4

CLICK HERE to back Clayton to win and Cullen to hit most 180s with Sky Bet

Gerwyn Price (4/11) v James Wade (2/1)

Head to Head: 7-10, 1 draw (TV: 2-3, 1 draw)
2021 Head to Head: 1-2 (TV: 0-1)

If you were told one player would fail to win one of the nightly titles this season then I think most people would predict it to be James Wade even though he's ranked as high as four in the world.

Sure, he can beat anyone on his day especially in these short format matches but can he produce consistent fireworks needed to win three matches against the world's best in one night?

Involvement in this kind of format could, on the other hand, bring out a better version of the Machine as the season progresses especially if he starts to get written off - but at this moment in time I can't really see him coming through this top section of the opening night draw bracket.

Gerwyn Price will come out all guns blazing in Cardiff and and although he wasn't at his best during his two matches against Ryan Searle (10-8) and Clayton (8-10) at the Masters with averages in the mid to high 90s, he performed to a much higher standard than Wade did during a thumping 10-4 defeat to Dave Chisnall in which he only hit a couple of 180.

The Iceman should comfortably hit most maximums than Wade, who struggled more than usual to find them during the World Championship, and if he wins the lion's share of legs then throwing in the highest checkout is worth considering even though all eight players are capable of landing a high one with no warning.

Price is always such a reliable 100+ checkout hitter and managed another four during the Masters while Wade will be extra focused on his attempts to do the same if he's to keep up with his opponent's scoring power.

Scoreline Prediction: 6-3

CLICK HERE to back two or more 100+ checkouts in the match with Sky Bet

Peter Wright (8/11) v Michael Smith (11/10)

Head to Head: 24-12, 2 draws (TV: 14-3, 2 draws)
2021 Head to Head: 3-1 (TV: 3-0)

Michael Smith would be preparing for this fixture as the world champion had Peter Wright not floored him with that magical streak of nine legs out of the last 10 legs.

Bully Boy led 5-4 in sets and was 2-0 up in the 10th before Snakebite turned on the turbo boosters from absolutely nowhere, averaging 114 during that run of play, but at least this is an early opportunity to get a small measure of revenge as he goes in search of ending his major drought.

Wright bafflingly decided to ditch his world title-winning darts in favour of a strange bulbous set during the Masters and the experiment - which caused a lot of debate on social media - backfired emphatically with a defeat to Simon Whitlock in round one.

Snakebite surely won't be using those again tonight but who knows what he might show up with at a stage of the season where he'll feel like he can make a few changes without it being too costly.

Smith, by contrast averaged a superb 105.49 against Krzysztof Ratajski in the Masters before bowing out 10-8 with a mark of 99.33 against Dave Chisnall while he threw 15 maximums in those 34 legs (0.44 per leg) which pretty much carries on the momentum from his 180 record breaking at the World Championship.

I'm siding with the St Helens man and also doubling up with most 180s at 23/10.

Scoreline Prediction: 3-6

CLICK HERE to back Smith to win and hit most 180s with Sky Bet

Michael van Gerwen (4/9) v Gary Anderson (13/8)

Head to Head: 46-18, 3 draws (TV: 27-13, 3 draws)
2021 Head to Head: 4-0, 1 draw (TV: 3-0, 1 draw)

The 68th meeting between these two old rivals may not be as eagerly-anticipated as it may have been a couple of years ago but there's still plenty of intrigue surrounding whether either can recapture their former glories this year.

I did regrettably back Michael van Gerwen to win the Masters last weekend only to see him labour to a highly fortunate victory over Luke Humphries before being soundly beaten by Joe Cullen in the quarter-finals.

Even when MVG wins it seems to be a real struggle these days and while that's largely because of the raising standards of his competition, his levels are clearly not at the insane levels of yesteryear.

Time and age is well on his side to recapture those performances at some point in the near future but we can't say the same about Gary Anderson, who was battered 10-1 by Cullen, only averaged 91 and managed just five attempts at a double.

We can't forget how well he played during the World Championship while these short format matches could well play to his strength these days but MVG is still operating at a higher level.

The Dutchman also holds a dominant head-to-head record over Anderson and he may feel more confident against the Flying Scotsman than anyone else in this field right now.

It is hard to predict which version of either player will turn up so I'll swerve any kind of performance tips in this one.

Scoreline Prediction: 6-4

Who will win night one?

If my quarter-final predictions come to fruition then we'd see an all-Welsh blockbuster between Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price for a place in the opening final in Cardiff.

Given that Clayton has won three of their last four meetings since October, including his victory at the Masters this weekend, and has generally produced a higher calibre of performance over recent months I'm going to side with the Ferret.

Awaiting him could well be Michael Smith in a repeat of their stunning World Championship fourth round clash but this time the home support could be pivotal in Clayton's favour.

Weekly winner: Night one odds