Note: All betting lines are correct at the time of writing.
Less than a week after 200/1 outsider Andrew Gilding produced one of the biggest shocks in darts history by beating Michael van Gerwen 11-10 in the UK Open final to become a major winner at the age of 52, Night Six of the Premier League of Darts rolls into Liverpool.
Night Five saw Michael van Gerwen become the first multi-night winner of the new season following back-to-back wins in Dublin and Exeter. Mighty Mike beat Jonny Clayton in the Exeter final to solidify his place at the top of DPL table.
The final saw van Gerwen take hold of proceedings in the early stages as he opened up a 3-0 lead over the 2021 champion Clayton, who was taking part in his first nightly final of this campaign. The Welshman came back strong though, reducing the deficit to one leg as he trailed 3-4. MVG then took back to back legs for a second successive night victory.
Clayton now moves up two places into fifth thanks to picking up three league points following wins over Peter Wright – who remains pointless – and Dimitri van den Bergh. Elsewhere, semi finalists Aspinall and van den Bergh also picked up two points apiece thanks to quarter final wins over Michael Smith and Chris Dobey respectively.
The Premier League roadshow now heads to Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Thursday March 9th for Night Six where once again van Gerwen and Jonny Clayton will go head to head, this time in the quarter finals. Peter Wright will be looking to get his first points as he faces Gerwyn Price while Chris Dobey takes on Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith steps up to the oche against Dimitri van den Bergh.
Things get underway in Liverpool with two former world champions facing off against each other as Gerwyn Price meets Peter Wright. Snakebite Wright is having a horrible campaign so far and he’s yet to win a game. The Scotsman also has a leg difference of minus ten.
Price on the other hand has won five games and also Night Two in Cardiff. Both players lost their one and only game last week but everything looks like pointing to a Price victory where a second night win for the Welshman would see him move up to second in the league table behind Michael van Gerwen.
The Iceman has also pinned more than double the 180s than Snakebite with 23 compared to Wright’s 11 so that might be another market worth taking a look at. Price to win and land the most 180s. Wright, however, boasts the better ton plus checkout stats having posted six 100+ checkouts despite only playing five games so far.
League leader Michael van Gerwen won week five after beating Price 6-3, Nathan Aspinall 6-4 and Jonny Clayton 6-3 in the final. The Green Machine now has two night wins as well as nine games in total giving himself a six point lead at the top of the table.
This week the Dutch darts master steps out with Jonny Clayton in his first game of the night in a repeat of last week’s final. When they met last week Mighty Mike notched up an average of 97.45 and also hit a highest checkout of 106 compared to the Ferret’s 24.
It’s hard not to see another win coming for MVG but the odds are a little short considering the ability of his Welsh opponent. The Dutchman has the highest average in the tournament so far with 99.03 and has also landed more 180s than anyone else with 33 making a Michael van Gerwen win and smashing the most 180s looking like a safe bet.
Next up is Chris Dobey versus Nathan Aspinall, which sees second bottom taking on third place. Despite being the lower placed, it is Dobey that has actually won a night, but Aspinall who has been steadily collecting game wins and points too.
Hollywood lost his one and only game last week against Dimitri van den Bergh while Aspinall reached the last four where he lost 6-4 against eventual night winner van Gerwen. The stats for both players read very similarly so it is likely to be a close match but I am leaning towards The Asp to make it through to the next round again this week.
Last up, we have Michael Smith versus Dimitri van den Bergh to round off the first round of Thursday night’s tungsten action. PDC world champion Bully Boy is currently second behind van Gerwen having won five games and one night leaving himself with nine points.
The St Helens man was disappointing last week when he lost 6-3 to Nathan Aspinall but still has the second highest average in the competition with 97.89. Smith also has the joint highest ton plus checkouts and legs won.
Belgian Dream Maker van den Bergh has shown plenty of quality in spells but is still to win a night and faces a tough task to beat Smith. Instead of backing Smith to simply win I’m going with The Bully Boy to win and land the most 180s at the bet365 boosted odds of 7/4.
2023 Premier League Darts Table (after five nights)
| Player | Nights Won | Games Won | Leg Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael van Gerwen | 2 | 9 | +19 | 15 |
| Michael Smith | 1 | 5 | -3 | 9 |
| Nathan Aspinall | 0 | 5 | -3 | 9 |
| Gerwyn Price | 1 | 5 | +6 | 8 |
| Dimitri van den Bergh | 0 | 4 | +2 | 7 |
| Jonny Clayton | 0 | 4 | -2 | 7 |
| Chris Dobey | 1 | 3 | -6 | 5 |
| Peter Wright | 0 | 0 | -10 | 0 |
Venue: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Dates: Thursday February 2nd – Thursday May 25
Format: Best of 11 legs (First to six)
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports Main Event HD & Sky Sports Arena HD
When To Watch: 19:00 UK