Premier League Darts: Night 14 predictions, stats, betting tips, accas, order of play in Manchester & TV time

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We're edging ever closer to the climax of the regular season but with three rounds of matches remaining the race for both top spot and the play-off positions are still being keenly contested.

Michael van Gerwen is out to maintain his grip on the leadership against top-four hopeful Daryl Gurney while we could be in for a treat at the end of the night when James Wade takes on Gerwyn Price.

As ever, I'lI run through all five fixtures, complete with head-to-head records, season stats so far, match verdicts, suggested bets and accas - plus a reminder of how the table looks.

Premier League Night 14: Thursday May 2

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
• Format: Maximum of 14 legs

Accumulators

Treble: Smith, Wright & Wade at 19/1

Four Fold: Smith, Wright, Gurney (+2.5 legs) & Wade at 41/1

Draw no bet accas: Smith, Wright & Wade at 9/1, Smith, Wright, Gurney & Wade at 58/1

Rob Cross (10/11) v Michael Smith (2/1), draw (7/2)

Tournament Average: 99.80 - 96.86
Best Average: 104.71 - 101.25
Tournament 180s: 39 - 48
Checkout %: 44.44% (80/180) - 37.57% (68/181)
High Checkout: 164 - 170

Head-to-head: 11-3
Meetings since start of 2018: 6-2
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 2-3
Career Titles: 7-11

Rob Cross has one foot in the Premier League play-offs for a second successive year but Michael Smith's race is already run with three games to spare.

Voltage won't be resting on his laurels, however, because he also has a golden opportunity to end Michael van Gerwen's record of topping the regular season table for all of his six previous seasons.

Had he beaten Gerwyn Price last Thursday he would be level on points with MVG - but that's not to say he should have won. If anything, he snatched a point he barely deserved, with the Welshman blowing four match darts.

It was a rare below-par display from Cross, who went on to beat Price in the weekend's German Darts Open quarter-finals only to come up short against Ian White in his next match.

Smith's 7-7 draw with Mensur Suljovic pretty much summed up his campaign as he threw away a 6-2 lead before having to win the last leg to earn a futile point.

Bully Boy, who has hit more 180s than anyone else in the 2019 Premier League, once again played a lot better than his lowly position in the table suggested, averaging 101.25 but let down by costly finishing in the closing stretch.

He's averaged 99 to 101 in his last five matches but only picked up two points in that run but maybe now the pressure is off completely, his fortunate may change.

I'm not sure whether having anything to play for or not is as significant a factor in darts as it is in a more energetic sport where you have to conjure up extra reserves of stamina and desire.

There's no way Smith will turn up and throw like he doesn't care so this could be a dangerous encounter for Cross.

Scoreline Prediction: 5-7

Suggested Bet: Michael Smith to win at 2/1

Peter Wright (2/1) v Mensur Suljovic (5/6), draw (7/2)

Tournament Average: 95.45 - 95.66
Best Average: 106.64 - 101.38
Tournament 180s: 35 - 34
Checkout %: 41.51% (66/159) - 39.49% (77/195)
High Checkout: 160 - 136

Head-to-head: 8-11
Meetings since start of 2018: 1-7
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 2-2
Career Titles: 22-5

Just like in the first fixture of the night, this battle is between one player with everything to play for and another with just pride to gain.

Mensur Suljovic dug in hard when all looked lost last Thursday to snatch a 7-7 draw from 6-2 down against Michael Smith - albeit losing the final leg - and despite the sloppy start it was his first 100+ average in seven Premier League encounters.

I backed Smith last week on the basis Bully Boy had statistically been playing better than Suljovic, who had recorded marks in the low 90s and high 80s in many of his six previous matches, so it was quite galling to see his comeback unfold in Birmingham!

The less said about Peter Wright's season the better really. You can count on one hand the times he's produced the kind of darts we know he's capable of and mostly he's fallen well short.

Snakebite hasn't won any of his last eight matches in this competition, picking up just three points during this run and averaging in the 80s thrice, while on Sunday he managed just two darts at doubles during a 6-1 hiding at the hands of Dave Chisnall at the German Darts Open.

He's also got a horrible recent record against Suljovic, losing seven of the last eight since the start of 2018, although their UK Open clash back in March was a very close thriller.

Wright did post a stunning average of 114 in defeating Gary Anderson 6-0 during Wednesday's Players Championship event before bowing out to Harry Ward in the last 16 - so maybe that's signs of a return to form?

I can't help but feel Wright is too big a price here when you consider Suljovic isn't really setting any arenas alight.

Scoreline Prediction: 7-4

Suggested Bet: Peter Wright to win at 2/1 (Bolder choice would be Wright to win, score over 2.5 180s and have a checkout of more than 82.5 at 7/2)

Daryl Gurney (5/1) v Michael van Gerwen (1/3), draw (9/2)

Tournament Average: 96.57 - 102.09
Best Average: 104.05 - 109.11
Tournament 180s: 35 - 37
Checkout %: 38.04% (70/184) - 47.25% (86/182)
High Checkout: 140 - 132

Head-to-head: 4-18 (1 draw)
Meetings since start of 2018: 2-8 (1 draw)
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 2-25
Career Titles: 4-123

When Michael van Gerwen has fortune on his side as well as his awesome ability he's pretty much invincible and that proved to be the case in Germany over the weekend as he picked up his sixth title of the season.

After edging past Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 in German Darts Open third round, he then survived five match darts across his next two matches - including four against Dave Chisnall - before putting Ian White to the sword in the final.

He now arrives in Manchester looking to consolidate top spot having stayed there thanks to a thrilling point he earned in a classic with James Wade, in which both players averaged well above 100 and produced exceptional finishing.

Daryl Gurney is playing catch-up in the race for the play-offs as he lies one point behind the trio of players on 15 but he's not without a fighting chance against a player he's beaten in their last two meetings.

Last November he produced a terrific battling display to win the Players Championship Finals title and two months ago he won their Premier League encounter in Berlin which pretty much turned his season around.

If you can't see him doing what Wade couldn't and inflict only the second ever Premier League double on the MVG, you could instead take the less risky option of backing Gurney at 11/10 in the handicap market with a 2.5 legs start.

Scoreline Prediction: 8-6

Suggested Bet: Daryl Gurney (+2.5 legs) at 11/10

James Wade (5/4) v Gerwyn Price (6/4), draw (3/1)

Tournament Average: 98.80 - 96.47
Best Average: 109.59 - 104.11
Tournament 180s: 38 - 43
Checkout %: 46.82% (81/173) - 42.78% (80/187)
High Checkout: 158 - 170

Head-to-head: 6-3 (1 draw)
Meetings since start of 2018: 3-0 (1 draw)
PDC Titles Since Start of 2018: 5-4
Career Titles: 33-6

The night ends with the hardest to call.

James Wade came so close to doing the double on MVG last Thursday only for the Dutchman to deny him with back-to-back 13 and 12 dart legs while Gerwyn Price spurned four match darts in his 7-7 draw with Rob Cross.

The pair occupy third and fourth place in the table respectively on 15 points and their previous meeting in the Premier League ended 6-6 in Dublin.

Wade has enjoyed the better of their exchanges, with Price not winning since triumphing 10-9 in the 2017 Dubai Masters, but during January's Masters he faced a subdued Iceman who'd lost his mojo due to 'that' fine and in the 2018 European Championship quarter-final it finished 10-9.

They've both been two of the most entertaining players to watch on the PDC Tour this season while they've also been two of the most successful, collecting five titles between them (Wade 3, Price 2).

On very recent form, the Machine's German Open campaign was ended by a stunning performance from Nathan Aspinall in the third round - the UK Open champion averaging 108 - while Price's run to the quarters was ended in a deciding leg of a pulsating clash with Voltage.

I might just give the edge to Wade here but my suggested bet is for the match to have over 12.5 legs, a high checkout of over 108.5 and over 4.5 180s at 11/8.

Scoreline Prediction: 8-6

Suggested Bet: Over 12.5 legs, a high checkout of over 108.5 and over 4.5 180s at 11/8.

2019 Premier League Darts Table

1. Van Gerwen P 13 W 8 D 3 L 2 LegD +33 Pts 19
2. Cross P 13 W 8 D 2 L 3 LegD +17 Pts 18
3. Wade P 13 W 5 D 5 L 3 LegD +14 Pts 15
4. Price P 13 W 5 D 5 L 3 LegD +5 Pts 15
5. Suljovic P 13 W 6 D 3 L 4 LegD +4 Pts 15
6. Gurney P 13 W 6 D 2 L 5 LegD -1 Pts 14
7. Smith P 13 W 3 D 3 L 7 LegD -14 Pts 9
8. Wright P 13 W 2 D 5 L 6 LegD -18 Pts 9
9. Relegated: Van Barneveld P 9 W 1 D 2 L 6 LegD -22 Pts 4

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SEASON FIXTURES, RESULTS & TABLE

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