Pete’s Darts Betting Tips
- Get enhanced odds of 11/10 on Gerwyn Price to win against Jonny Clayton and hit the highest checkout, up from 1/1 at bet365.
- bet365 have also boosted the odds of Michael Smith winning against Michael van Gerwen and pinning the most 180s from 8/5 to 7/4.
Gerwyn Price finished top of the Premier League of Darts table after reaching his ninth final of the league phase one week ago. The Iceman was, however, unable to bank what would have been a record-breaking fifth nightly win after losing out to Dimitri van den Bergh in Aberdeen who picks up his first – and only – DPL win of the season.
The Belgian received a bye in the second round at the P&J Live after Michael van Gerwen pulled out of the event with a shoulder injury that was sustained during his quarter-final win over Chris Dobey.
The Dutchman was in visible pain during his quarter-final win over Chris Dobey but with qualification to this week’s play offs already assured, decided not to put his arm at any risk of further injury and did not come out for his match against The Dream Maker, seeking medical treatment instead.
We hope that MVG will be able take part in this week’s finale in the capital.
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One man who will be there, however, is Jonny Clayton after his Welsh compatriot Gerwyn Price beat Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals. Aspinall had earlier beaten The Ferret with a comprehensive 6-1 victory in the quarter-finals but was still required to overcome The Iceman in order to make it to London. All of which means that by way of nights won The Ferret takes the fourth and final play off spot at the O2 Arena in London’s Docklands.
The Dream Maker Signs Off In Style
Alongside Peter Wright, van den Bergh had been one of only two players in this year’s tournament without a nightly win to his name before the trip to Scotland, but the Belgian finally put that right with a win on the last night of the regular season.
The 2020 World Matchplay champion started off his campaign with a 6-4 win over an already qualified Michael Smith, seeing off a late Bully Boy fightback to end Smith’s nine-match winning run in the Premier League. The Belgian then wasn’t required to play his match against Mighty Mike, instead going straight through to the final against Price for the Night 16 title.
It took a thrilling last-leg decider for The Dream Maker to beat Price in the final and deny the Welshman a fifth nightly win of the season, breaking Price’s throw in the deciding leg to win a topsy-turvy game.
In leg three, the Belgian managed to fire in a superb 148 checkout to take the lead, but was unable to shake off Price, as all of the opening six legs went against the throw. Van den Bergh then regained the initiative with an 11-dart break of throw in the seventh leg, before seeing out the game’s first hold of throw in leg eight, when he pinned a 13-darter to move one leg away from glory.
The Iceman then survived a match dart in the ninth leg before finding a 12-dart finish to once again break to force the decider. Price then wasted three match darts of his own in a dramatic finale before van den Bergh capitalised to celebrate the win leaving Peter Wright as the only player in the competition not to celebrate a nightly win.
Price, on the other hand, becomes the fifth player in Premier League history to finish top of the league phase, after reaching his ninth nightly final of the season as we move on to the final night which takes place this Thursday in London.
Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
It seems crazy but this is the first time that Gerwyn Price has made the Darts Premier League play off stage, but after an incredible League phase in which he topped the table, won four nights, made nine finals and boasted the highest tournament average of 98.31, he goes into this finale as the overwhelming favourite.
The nine finals that The Iceman made it to over the last 16 weeks is also two greater than his nearest challenger, Michael Smith. Before last week, Price had conjured up 23-ton-plus averages in his previous 28 matches across all competitions as he once again prepares to face his good friend Jonny Clayton, who pipped Nathan Aspinall to the final spot last week despite losing his quarter-final to the very same player.
The increased amount of legs will help The Ferret who had a strong second half of the regular season, winning two nights on the spin before taking a further four match victories. At the weekend Clayton also won his first Players Championship title in more than two years thanks to a win over Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock. The Welshman also averaged over 100 three times during his seven games, including a 110 and a 107.
Those kind of numbers can cause Price real problems and this should be a clash of real quality that’s closer than a lot of people are expecting. The Iceman has been especially ruthless with heavy scoring and 180 hitting this year, but it’s The Ferret that has been producing some fireworks with his ton-plus checkouts in recent weeks.
At the end of March, Clayton had only managed four three-figure finishes in 15 matches but since then he’s fired 13 in the 57 legs that he won in 13 matches. He’s also gone 120 or higher 11 times including five from 121.
Price hasn’t been as prolific from that kind of distance this season, winning 8.4% of his legs with one which is the lowest of the four players competing for the title this week which, although I expect the world number four to win, should keep things interesting.
Michael Smith v Michael van Gerwen
It’s another meeting of the Michaels in the night’s second semi-final. Michael van Gerwen will be looking for a record-breaking seventh Premier League of Darts title at the O2 but there are concerns over a shoulder injury that he picked up in last week’s quarter-final victory over Chris Dobey.
Despite pulling out of his semi-final clash with Dimitri Van den Bergh, he was fit enough to take part in the weekend’s Players Championship events where he managed to produce three decent enough performances which suggests the injury isn’t as bad as first feared.
Mighty Mike’s three highest averages were 101, 98 and 97 but he did drop down to 92 and 89 in two of his other displays so things aren’t perfect either so Michael Smith could potentially have an easier semi-final than might otherwise be expected.
The world number one might not have been averaging as high on such a consistent basis as Gerwyn Price in the second half of his Premier League campaign, but he did win three of the final four weeks of the season, so we make him the marginal favourite to set up another clash with The Iceman.
The Bully Boy boasts the highest 180 per leg ratio in the DPL this season with 0.34 and he also threw more 100+ checkouts with 19, winning 12% of his legs in this way. A stunning 13 of those were all 120+ finishes in a tournament where he has routinely threatened a nine-darter.
Bet365 Darts Premier League Match Betting Odds Night Seventeen:
- Gerwyn Price (2/5) v (2/1) Jonny Clayton
- Michael Smith (10/11) v (10/11) Michael van Gerwen
2023 bet365 Premier League Darts Outright Winner Odds
- Gerwyn Price @ 6/4 with bet365
- Michael van Gerwen @ 12/5 with bet365
- Michael Smith @ 12/5 with bet365
- Jonny Clayton @ 7/1 with bet365
2023 Premier League Darts Table (after sixteen nights)
| Player | Nights Won | Games Won | Leg Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerwyn Price (Q) | 4 | 24 | +47 | 39 |
| Michael Smith (Q) | 4 | 20 | +17 | 33 |
| Michael van Gerwen (Q) | 3 | 19 | +27 | 33 |
| Jonny Clayton (Q) | 2 | 14 | -10 | 24 |
| Nathan Aspinall | 1 | 13 | -15 | 24 |
| Dimitri van den Bergh | 1 | 6 | -13 | 16 |
| Chris Dobey | 1 | 8 | -23 | 14 |
| Peter Wright | 0 | 5 | -29 | 9 |
2023 Premier League Darts Schedule
- Night 1 – The SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday February 2 (Winner: Chris Dobey)
- Night 2 – Cardiff International Arena – Thursday February 9 (Winner: Gerwyn Price)
- Night 3 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday February 16 (Winner: Michael Smith)
- Night 4 – 3 Arena, Dublin – Thursday February 23 (Winner: Michael van Gerwen)
- Night 5 – Westpoint Arena, Exeter – Thursday March 2 (Winner: Michael van Gerwen)
- Night 6 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday March 9 (Winner: Michael van Gerwen)
- Night 7 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday March 16 (Winner: Gerwyn Price)
- Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday March 23 (Winner: Gerwyn Price)
- Night 9 – Mercedes Benz Arena, Berlin – Thursday March 30 (Winner: Jonny Clayton)
- Night 10 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham – Thursday April 6 (Winner: Jonny Clayton)
- Night 11 – The Brighton Centre, Brighton – Thursday April 13 (Winner: Gerwyn Price)
- Night 12 – Rotterdam Ahoy – Thursday April 20 (Winner: Nathan Aspinall)
- Night 13 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday April 27 (Winner: Michael Smith)
- Night 14 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday May 4 (Winner: Michael Smith)
- Night 15 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 11 (Winner: Michael Smith)
- Night 16 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 18 (Dimitri van den Bergh)
- Play Offs – The O2 Arena, London – Thursday May 25
QUICK GLANCE AT THE 2023 PREMIER LEAGUE OF DARTS NIGHT SEVENTEEN
Venue: The O2 Arena, LondonDates: Thursday February 2nd – Thursday May 25
Format: Best of 19 & 21 legs (First to ten then eleven)
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports Main Event HD & Sky Sports Arena HD
When To Watch: 19:00 UK