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April18April 18, 2019

Michael van Gerwen And Rob Cross Keep Up The Heat In Liverpool

Michael van Gerwen kept up the pressure on top of the table Rob Cross, after hammering Michael Smith 8-3 at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Thursday night. Mighty Mike averaged 109.11 in a contest that was a repeat of last year’s final and soon, racinginto a 4-0 lead. Smith finally entered the contest in the fifth, striking back with the first of two 12-darters, the second of which only came after MVG had collected an additional two legs for himself. There was one more leg for Bull Boy before MVG sealed the win with checkouts from 76 and 80 to keep the heat on Cross before their top of the table clash this week.

A Recap of Night 11

It’s Voltage who remains in first place after defeating Peter Wright 8-5 despite suffering from a recent bout of tonsillitis. Having pulled out of Sunday’s Players Championship event, there were fears that the Hastings thrower would also miss out in Liverpool. These concerns proved unfounded, much to Snakebite’s misfortune, who now finds himself one off the bottom. Cross averaged 102, the eighth time in 11 matches that he has recorded a three figure average, while Wright banked just over 100. Cross took out 140 as he marched into a 3-0 lead and before long found himself up 6-2 after he finished with 105. Snakebite threatened a comeback by taking three of the next four legs before Voltage sealed victory with an 11-darter. The 2018 World Champion has now won seven out of his last eight games to retain his cushion ahead of Michael van Gerwen as he moves closer to securing a playoff spot.

Gerwyn Price moved into a playoff position after leapfrogging Mensur Suljovic in a poor quality affair in which neither player averaged higher than 90. Hitting just two maximums each and failing to produce a checkout above 100 between them, this scrappy match was one to forget. Stretching his unbeaten run to three, The Iceman won’t be too bothered as The Gentle’s challenge begins to fade after a poor couple of weeks for the Austrian who was this week shot down 8-5. After falling behind 3-0, Suljovic struck back with four legs on the trot before Price reeled off four of his own. Then they split the final two legs to give the Welshman the points.

Third place in the table belongs to James Wade after he bagged a point courtesy of a 7-7 draw with Daryl Gurney. The Machine was forced to fight back from two down on three separate occasions when at 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3. But after hanging in the game he looked the more likely to emerge victorious as Gurney needed to take the decider to draw level, something he achieved with a superb 10-darter. Wade averaged 90 compared to 104 from Superchin, who will regret his eight missed doubles in one leg while ahead 5-3. That was where the game turned as Wade took three legs on the spin before Gurney hit back with an impressive 11-darter.

Premier League Darts Betting Tips – Week 12

Following his draw with James Wade, Daryl Gurney has continued to stutter in recent weeks but should get back to his winning ways this week in Cardiff. Superchin lines up against Mensur Suljovic, who came off worse in a scrappy match last time out against Gerwyn Price. Neither player is currently in the top four, and in truth neither look as though they will be unless they find form and soon. There are only five weeks remaining, but going by past results, Suljovic has lost both Premier League meetings with Gurney, a record that will likely be stretched to three.

Match two is the big one, Michael van Gerwen versus Rob Cross in a meeting of the top two. Mighty Mike is unbeaten in four matches and easily pushed aside Michael Smith last week. If anything, it was MVG’s best performance in the league so far this year, which is good timing as he takes on Voltage who is also in the form of his life right now. Overall, Cross has a poor record against Van Gerwen, save for the 2018 World championship semi-final. The Dutchman has won 13 of their 16 meetings, winning all four of their Premier League showdowns, so the smart money goes on him.

Next out are Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith with The Iceman expected to bully the Bully Boy in front of his home crowd. The Welsh former rugby player has responded to a run of three straight defeats with a three match unbeaten run, including almost toppling MVG a fortnight ago and beating Suljovic last week. Smith, on the other hand, has been poor all year and is now a point adrift at the bottom of the table. Last year’s runner-up has won 12 of their last 17 matches, but Price is in form and will, for once, be cheered by an enthusiastic home crowd in Wales.

The night’s final action sees James Wade take on beat Peter Wright who has struggled badly in the Premier League this season. Wade, third on leg difference, shouldn’t have any need to worry here as the real Pete Wright is still yet to stand up and it will soon be too late. Away from the Premier League, Snakebite’s form has been superb, claiming three PDC titles in eight days, but the league is the big thing in darts right now and there his form has been appalling. The same thing can’t be said about The Machine who will fancy his chances of banking a win here and so do we.

This week’s Betway Darts Premier League acca is as follows; Daryl Gurney, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and James Wade which pays at 20.87/1.

(13/8) Mensur Suljovic v Daryl Gurney (6/5)
(100/30) Rob Cross v Michael van Gerwen (4/7)
(6/5) Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price (13/8)
(6/4) Peter Wright v James Wade (13/10)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK 12

Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Dates: Thursday 18.04.2019
Format: Best of 12 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

March26March 27, 2019

Daryl Gurney Beats Michael van Gerwen As Judgement Awaits In Rotterdam

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

There was a shock result in Berlin last week when Michael van Gerwen lost in a surprise 7-5 defeat to Daryl Gurney on night seven of Premier League Darts. It is the second time in a row that the Northern Irishman has enjoyed victory over van Gerwen, having also triumphed in the memorable Players Championship Finals match back in November.

Things started off by Mighty Mike taking the opening two legs before Superchin pulled back the next two to draw level. MVG raised again in leg five but still couldn’t escape Gurney, who won the next two to move into the lead for the first time. Soon after, he doubled his lead before MVG closed the gap to one leg at 4-5. An 86 checkout guaranteed Gurney a point before van Gerwen landed a 93 to send the match into a 12th leg where Gurney hit double top on throw to beat the Dutchman. Gurney closed with an average of 98.71 compared to MVG’s 98.54 but hit two fewer 180s with four.

Recap of other Night 7 action

League leader Rob Cross kicked off the night with a 7-4 victory over Gerwyn Price. It was the second defeat in a row for Price, who up until last week, was unbeaten in the League this season before losing to MVG in Berlin. Voltage, who averaged over 100 for the sixth time this season, finished on Thursday with a mark of 104, opened with a 13-darter to break The Iceman’s throw and take an early advantage before holding his own in leg two. The Welsh Grand Slam of Darts champion then got on the board himself as he chucked an 86 checkout before another 13-dart finish from Cross saw the 2018 World Champion restore his lead. Cross followed this up with a finish on double nine to go 4-1 ahead, before Price broke back, only to lose the next as Cross moved into a 5-2 lead. Price took the next two legs before Voltage came back to take the final two legs for himself, and with it, the top spot in the table.

The next pair out were James Wade and Peter Wright> In true Snakebite fashion, Wright once again conspired against himself to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. In a match that should have been done and dusted much sooner, Snakebite found himself 5-2 up before long. By the eighth leg, Wright missed three darts at double allowing Wade to get back into the match. Despite missing numerous opportunities to do so, Wade would get more chances as Wright continuously refused to close out the leg. Finally, at the third time of asking, The Machine took his chance and kept his hopes alive. With momentum building, a 65 finish got Wade to within one of his opponent, courtesy of another two more misses from Wright, before the Scotsman would miss yet again leaving Wade to level the match with a shot at double 10. Wade then made it four legs on the spin to move into an unlikely lead before Wright finally rediscovered his aim to salvage a point from a game that should never have been in doubt. In the end, Wright averaged 98.93 compared to Wade’s 98.42.

Mensur Suljovic produced a dominant display in match four as he saw off the challenge from Michael Smith to bank a 7-2 win. It was Bully Boy who took the opening leg with a 75 finish, but that was before the Austrian replied by reeling off five in succession to leave Smith well and truly stunned. Smith did manage to respond in leg seven with an 86 checkout, but a 77 finish from The Gentle took him to within one of victory, which he sealed one leg later.

Raymond van Barneveld finally got off and running in his final Premier League campaign after he beat the latest contender German Max Hopp 7-3 in Berlin. After finding himself a leg down, Barney moved clear in the match before Hopp won back-to-back legs to close the gap to 4-3. From there, Barney seized momentum and produced a moment of genuine magic to take out 170 to inspire a closing finish that went unchallenged. Although the former World Champion remains bottom of the table, his upturn in form, coupled with this week’s doubleheader in his native Holland is well-timed and might even inspire the mother of all survival fights with Judgment Night looming on Thursday after Wednesday’s fixtures, both of which will take place in Rotterdam.

The latest odds to finish bottom on Judgment Night with Betway – before the first of this week’s two nights of action – are as follows.

Raymond van Barneveld is favourite for the drop at an odds-on price of 2/9 and with Daryl Gurney and Michael van Gerwen standing in his way you can see why. Last year’s runner up, Michael Smith is next in line at 7/1, one point lower than Daryl Gurney’s 8/1. From there, the prices drift with Gerwyn Price rated as 50/1, James Wade 100/1, Mensur Suljovic and Peter Wright also available at 100/1.

Darts Premier League Night 8 Betting Tips

Gerwyn Price’s impressive start to the campaign is officially over now that he has suffered back-to-back defeats to both Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross. Smith, on the other hand, is in the midst of a relegation battle after losing dramatically to Mensur Suljovic 7-2 in Germany. There is now only point separating Bully Boy from bottom-placed van Barneveld, who won his match last week. It is a closer relegation scrap than expected and especially surprising given Smith’s second place finish last year. It is still mathematically possible for The Iceman to exit the competition himself this week but extremely unlikely given he hadn’t lost until a fortnight ago, albeit his campaign has been littered with draws. In his latest battle, he can be backed to overcome so we’re going with Price to win in the opener.

The second match of the evening brings us our latest contender in the form of Dimitri van den Bergh, who faces off against James Wade. The Machine has enjoyed a patchy return to Premier League action and was lucky to snatch a point last week against Peter Wright. On form, he is still a formidable opponent and should have more than enough to see off the challenge from Van Den Bergh.

Match three pits Rob Cross against Mensur Suljovic with Voltage now showing himself to be one of the top two players in the world right now. Sitting top of the league by two points and with confidence riding high, Cross should have too much in his locker for The Gentle, who has quietly installed himself as an outside chance for glory. Following three wins in his last four, Mensur now sits in fourth place but any progress is likely to be stalled on Wednesday.

An out of form Michael van Gerwen is out next against Peter Wright with neither player managing to secure a win last week. Van Gerwen failed to take control of a match he led 2-0 as he lost 7-5 to Daryl Gurney while Snakebite blew a lead when throwing for the match against James Wade. However, the Dutchman’s confidence received a boost on Sunday when he beat Rob Cross 8-6 to win the European Tour title, while also hitting a nine-dart finish in his semi-final success over Suljovic. Draw specialist Wright has tied four of his seven matches so far and would love a similar score in the first of this week’s doubleheader events but a return to his homeland for MVG means he is unlikely to get it.

Raymond van Barneveld gave his survival bid a much needed shot in the arm last week in Berlin and now has two nights back home in Holland to pull off a miraculous great escape. The first of these is against Daryl Gurney who last week beat Mighty Mike van Gerwen. All logic says this should be a fairly straightforward win Superchin but romance, not to mention the home crowd, might dictate a win for the departing Dutchman.

One line on Wednesday’s action consisting of Gerwyn Price, James Wade, Rob Cross, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld pays 46/1 at Betway.

(6/4) Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith (11/8)
(11/10) James Wade v Dimitri van den Bergh (15/8)
(10/11) Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic (11/5)
(4/1) Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen (8/15)
(2/1) Raymond van Barneveld v Daryl Gurney (1/1)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK 8

Venue: Rotterdam Ahoy

Dates: Wednesday 27.03.2019
Format: Best of 12 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

March20March 21, 2019

Michael van Gerwen Thrashes Gerwyn Price As Rob Cross Goes Top

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Michael van Gerwen returned to his imperious best last week as he shattered Gerwyn Price’s unbeaten run with a brilliant 7-2 victory over the Welshman in Nottingham.

It was a surprisingly low-quality affair with oddly low averages in the 70s and 80s early on for both players. It wasn’t until the eighth leg when MVG kicked the match into life with a 132-checkout on the bull for a 12-darter that the game finally showed some class, while also putting the Dutchman 5-2 ahead. One round earlier, Mighty Mike took out a 13-darter just as he did in the ninth leg to guarantee himself at least a point. He took both, however, after he claimed the last in style to bring his final average up to 96.98 compared to The Iceman’s 92.95.

A recap of Night 6

In the night’s first action, Michael Smith claimed a much-needed victory as he comfortably saw off the challenge from the latest contender Nathan Aspinall in a 7-2 mauling. Last year’s runner-up raced into an early 4-0 lead before The Asp finally got points on the board before claiming the following two legs for good measure. Then it was Bully Boy’s turn to two claim two legs on the spin to take things to 6-2 before he wrapped up neatly with a match-winning 127 checkout. By the end, Smith averaged 93.99 over Aspinall’s 88.35.

James Wade surrendered top spot in match two as he was surprisingly shot down by Mensur Suljovic, who produced his best performance of the season so far. In a 7-3 victory, The Gentle averaged 101.38 and fired six 180s to overcome The Machine who had, only two weeks before, beaten Michael van Gerwen prior to recording the 10th whitewash in Premier League history over Daryl Gurney. In contrast, Suljovic had found himself adrift from the pace setters at the top having only won one match prior to his meeting with Wade. Scoring a match-high checkout of 109 in leg six, Suljovic moved into a 4-2 lead before Wade banked an 11-dart leg, from a finish from 76 to stay in the game. From there, The Gentle reeled off the next three legs in 14, 15 and 16 darts to send The Machine packing with an average of 97.05.

Rob Cross became the third player to sit at the top of the Premier League table after he recorded an impressive 7-3 victory over Raymond van Barneveld, who remains rock-bottom in his farewell season. Voltage made it three wins in a row to take his tally to nine points from six games, dropping just seven legs in his last three. In a messy end to the match, Cross took 18-darts to seal the victory as well as an average of 102.85 which included three 180s to Barney’s four. Van Barneveld, still without a win, has only managed two draws so far but was showing signs of a fighting spirit at 2-2. He then missed two chances at tops, which allowed Cross to run off with the contest. Barney finished the evening with an average of just 92.27 and the knowledge that, unless something changes soon, he’ll be saying goodbye to DPL for good on Judgement Night on March 28 in Rotterdam.

Thursday night’s action concluded with Daryl Gurney and Peter Wright sharing the points in a 6-6 tie. Snakebite looked like he would be taking all the points himself only to see Superchin rescue a draw from the jaws of defeat to end a dismal run of form for the Northern Irishman. Coming off the back of 7-1 and 7-0 Premier League defeats to Rob Cross and James Wade respectively, coupled with an early UK Open exit, results have overseen an alarming drop in form for Gurney. He looked to be heading for another bad result after finding himself down 6-3 to a superior Snakebite. On the way to his lead, which guaranteed him at least a point, Wright landed a 90 checkout as part of an 11-darter before repeating the trick from the same score only this time on the bull. In true Wright style though, the victory wasn’t snatched as it should have been. Gurney, the 2018 Players Championship Finals winner, reeled off three successive legs in 13, 14 and 14 darts to nick the draw despite averaging eight points less than Peter Wright’s 102.91.

Darts Premier League Night 7 Betting Tips

Rob Cross looks to finally be back to his best, or at least something like it, which makes the night’s opener against Gerwyn Price an intriguing tie. Fresh off the back of his 7-3 win over Barney, he meets a Price that was put firmly in place a week ago but who was unbeaten prior to that. Given that his one defeat so far came against a rejuvenated MVG, last week’s poor result can be forgiven. On past form, the Welshman has won two of his five matches against Cross but has, last week notwithstanding, enjoyed a decent campaign so far. On form, Cross should take this one, but don’t be surprised to see The Iceman result to his old antics which may or may not be appreciated by the Berlin crowd. It’s a close one, but I’m siding with Price on this one.

Next out are James Wade and the ever erratic Peter Wright. Snakebite threw away a point last week against Daryl Gurney to give him his third stalemate in six matches. Despite another winless week, Wright still fared better than this week’s opponent, who himself suffered a blow with a surprise defeat to Mensur Suljovic. The Machine has otherwise performed well so far this season and was top until last week’s defeat, which he will hope was a one-off. A close game is expected but Wade should just about edge it.

Michael van Gerwen was back to his winning ways last week as he made short work of Gerwyn Price even if the score line did flatter him after another off key performance. This week he faces Daryl Gurney fresh from rescuing a point a week ago, but with a continental crowd behind him, and seemingly able to win while underperforming, Mighty Mike should have enough to see off Superchin, who has only won seven legs in the past three weeks.

Match four pits Michael Smith against Mensur Suljovic. Last week in Nottingham, Smith saw off the challenge from this season’s latest contender, Nathan Aspinall, and will be looking to keep up the momentum. That said, Mensur, too, took home all the points last week as both players seek for the kind of form that has so far eluded them previously. Despite Bully Boy being installed as the obvious and natural favourite, The Gentle has more than enough to present a challenge to Smith and something is drawing me to the Austrian this week.

Wrapping things up this week are Raymond van Barneveld and Max Hopp, the newest contender who hails from Idstein, near Frankfurt as the League heads to Germany, albeit Berlin. Barney’s last-ever showing at the Premier League before retirement is not exactly going to plan as he currently finds himself three points adrift of safety with Judgement Night fast approaching. Ordinarily, the popular Dutchman can count on strong support from the crowd but facing a German in Germany might just impact on this. Nevertheless, I expect Barney to finally get off the mark this week with a win in Berlin.

So then, this week’s acca looks as follows; Gerwyn Price, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Mensur Suljovic and Raymond van Barneveld, which pays at 58/1 with Betway.

(13/8) Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross (6/5)
(6/4) James Wade v Peter Wright (13/10)
(2/7) Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney (13/2)
(11/10) Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic (7/4)
(13/10) Max Hopp v Raymond van Barneveld (6/4)

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK 7

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin
Dates: Thursday 21.03.2019
Format: Best of 12 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)