We have another new nightly winner in the 2022 Darts Premier League.
In an exciting new format that is proving to be a big hit, Gary Anderson won night six to lift himself off the bottom of the table and get some much-needed points on the board. Anderson had previously lost all of his last five matches in the Premier League since an opening night win over Michael van Gerwen last month.
His five points and £10k reward came, yet again, at the expense of Michael Smith, who was this time a losing finalist in Nottingham.
Smith does however get another three points for his runner-up finish and is now up to fifth in the table, one place outside of the play off places.
Anderson was slow to get going, just about scrapping past Jonny Clayton 6-5 in their quarter-final match before raising his game considerably to send countryman Peter Wright packing with a 6-3 win and an average of 101.88.
The Flying Scotsman then elevated his game once more in the final against Bully Boy, where he averaged over 110 for much of the contest which he won 6-4.
Michael van Gerwen’s run of wins was stopped in its tracks as Gerwyn Price made his return to Premier League action.
The Iceman missed the previous week with a hand problem which, while not fully healed last week, was significantly healed that he was able to compete in Nottingham.
The Welshman was in surprisingly good form in his 6-4 dismissal of van Gerwen but unfortunately, the injury flared up again once more in the semi-final against Smith, where he let a 4-1 slip, eventually succumbing to a 6-4 defeat.
Hopefully, for this week’s meet, the world number two will be back to his usual and fully fighting best.
The world number one gets the seventh night of Premier League Darts action underway in an opening clash against James Wade.
Peter Wright is another to have suffered injury problems and was underwhelming last week when winning against Joe Cullen before coming unstuck against Gary Anderson in the semi-finals. It was there he averaged a measly 87, suggesting his back problems aren’t behind him.
Snakebite seemingly carried his problems over into the weekend’s Players Championship events in Barnsley where he was dumped out of both events in the first round to Andrew Gilding and Steve West, averaging just 82 in the last of those.
As for James Wade, it was a peculiar performance that he put on in Nottingham.
In just seven legs, he chucked in six 180s and posted an average of 102+, but still ended up losing 6-1 to Michael Smith courtesy of a missing eight of his nine darts at doubles.
That is unusually sloppy for The Machine, who also suffered a miserable weekend in Yorkshire where he lost two out of four matches.
When it comes to their head to head, these two cannot be split, winning 22 matches each out of 44 and given poor form and fitness this is a tough one to call.
This could easily go to The Machine, but if Snakebite is fully fit he gets the nod in the night’s opener.
Last week’s champion Gary Anderson steps out next in a match against the player who replaces him at the foot of the table, Joe Cullen.
After winning in Nottingham, The Flying Scotsman declared that he is playing his best darts for three years.
After averaging 105 across the seven matches that took him all the way to the Players Championship final on Saturday he might be right about that.
To that end, it is hard to make a case for Joe Cullen, who lost to Anderson when the pair met in Barnsley on Saturday, this week in Rotterdam.
At one point, he looked like following in the footsteps of Jonny Clayton and used his Masters success to propel him on to greater things, but that doesn’t look the case anymore.
He has lost his last four Premier League matches and has averaged lower than 94 across all four. He also has the worst checkout record in Premier League of Darts.
The head-to-head reads 7-4 to Anderson, who is favoured to come out on top again this week.
It’s an all Welsh affair in the night’s third quarter-final as Jonny Clayton “hosts” Gerwyn Price, who has hopefully overcome his hand injury.
The Iceman was going great guns last week until his hand blew up in the semis final stage.
That caused him to pull out of Players Championship events over the weekend and rest up instead.
Prior to his collapse, Price had averaged over 100 in a first-round victory over an in-form Michael van Gerwen.
Having sat out the night in Brighton, Price needs to make up for lost time. Even if he cannot play in — let alone win — three games in one night, turning up in Holland does mean he has the chance to bank at least two points.
The Iceman vowed on Twitter to give it 100% and he did, pinning a trio of 180s, two ton-plus checkouts and only missing two doubles.
Something similar this week should be enough to overcome his countryman.
As for the Ferret, he fell at the first hurdle in Nottingham and has hardly been at his best recently.
Since winning on night two in Liverpool, Clayton has lost four of his last five Premier League matches.
The Ferret remains in the top four and will definitely be in the mix come the end of the nightly run, but is relying on Price’s injury to make it through this one.
The final quarter-final match of the night sees both of the Michaels in the Darts Premier League face off.
For the first of these, Michael van Gerwen gets to enjoy playing in front of a Dutch crowd in a competitive event for the first time since before the pandemic so he will be relishing this evening.
He has hit form at exactly the right time too, despite going out right away last Thursday after a loss to Gerwyn Price.
The Dutchman remains our only multi-night winner so far and, with home advantage, is the favourite for night seven success too.
Michael Smith has rocketed up the league table in recent weeks, having reached the last two finals.
He has at least now put himself in the conversation, but momentum could be halted a little bit here in the Netherlands.
Here is a list of the Darts Premier League Night 7 betting lines, from the Bet365 Sportsbook.
Peter Wright (4/9) Vs (7/4) James Wade
Gary Anderson (8/11) Vs (11/10) Joe Cullen
Jonny Clayton (11/10) Vs (8/11) Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen (8/15) Vs (6/4) Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen – 3/1
Peter Wright – 7/2
Gerwyn Price – 4/1
Jonny Clayton – 13/2
Michael Smith – 8/1
Gary Anderson – 17/2
Joe Cullen – 12/1
James Wade – 14/1
Michael van Gerwen – 5/2
Peter Wright – 7/2
Gerwyn Price – 7/2
Jonny Clayton – 11/2
Michael Smith – 7/1
Gary Anderson – 14/1
James Wade – 18/1
Joe Cullen – 22/1
| Player | Nights Won | Matches Won | Leg Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael van Gerwen | 2 | 8 | +24 | 14 |
| Peter Wright | 1 | 6 | +4 | 12 |
| Jonny Clayton | 1 | 6 | -4 | 10 |
| Gerwyn Price* | 1 | 5 | +1 | 9 |
| Michael Smith | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Gary Anderson | 1 | 4 | -5 | 7 |
| James Wade | 0 | 4 | -7 | 7 |
| Joe Cullen | 0 | 3 | -7 | 5 |
*pulled out of Night 6 due to injury
Venue: Rotterdam Ahoy
Dates: 24/03/2022
Format: Best of 11 legs (first to six)
Current Champion: Jonny Clayton
Where To Watch: Sky Sports Main Event HD & Sky Sports Arena HD
When To Watch: 19:00 UK