Match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca for the third of six successive nights in the restarted Unibet Premier League Darts season.
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It was a good day for our match-by-match tips last night as two of the first three came in before Glen Durrant's victory over Michael van Gerwen brought home the headline selection at 4/1.
Of the five match winners, four were predicted but unfortunately the one that let me down - Nathan Aspinall to beat Daryl Gurney - scuppered the treble.
So, moving onto Judgement Night, where Daryl Gurney, Rob Cross and to a much lesser extend Gerwyn Price are the players in danger of relegation...
Premier League Judgement Night: Thursday August 27
Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1830 BST)
- Format: Maximum of 12 legs
- Suggested Treble: Smith, Price & Durrant at 5.75/1
Nathan Aspinall (5/4) v Michael Smith (6/4), draw (3/1)
- Head-to-head: 3-7 (TV: 1-5)
- Meetings since start of 2019: 2-3 (TV: 1-2)
- Last Meeting: 10-11 (Masters semi-final, Jan 2020)
- Individual Career PDC Titles: 6-10 (TV: 2-1)
- PDC Titles this season: 3-0 (TV: 0-0)
This could potentially be a cracker between two of the game's brightest stars, but I really don't think Michael Smith should be the outsider.
Bully Boy not only boasts a superior head-to-head record, including five wins from their six televised encounters, but he also comes into this fixture with slightly more momentum following the past two days.
His defeat 7-3 defeat to Gary Anderson came despite of a stunning average of 107 - which was let down by his shocking finishing - and then upped his game enough on the outer ring to brush aside Rob Cross by the same scoreline.
I've backed the St Helens man, who edged Aspinall 11-10 in a thrilling Masters semi-final back in January, to top the regular season table and also the title, so I'm fully expecting him to grow in confidence and get himself on a role.
Nathan Aspinall beat Gerwyn Price 7-4 with a 98 average on Tuesday only for his mark of 103 to be defied by a battling and clinical Gurney last night - as well as his own costly doubling.
The pair have plundered 20 maximums between them this week (Smith 12, Aspinall eight), so expect more prolific 180 hitting tonight.
- Predicted scoreline: 5-7
- Suggested bet: Over 7.5 180s in the match at 7/4
Michael van Gerwen (4/6) v Gary Anderson (3/1), draw (3/1)
- Head-to-head: 42-18, 2 draws (TV: 23-12, 2 draws)
- Meetings since start of 2019: 5-0 (TV: 3-0)
- Last Meeting: 6-4 (Players Champ Wigan, Feb 2019)
- Individual Career PDC Titles: 131-47 (TV: 51-15)
- PDC Titles this season: 3-1 (TV: 1-0)
Michael van Gerwen is currently on a seven-match winning streak against his great rival Gary Anderson, who hasn't beat him since the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts semi-final, and once again has a point to prove after defeat to Glen Durrant last night.
The world number one wasn't put under any pressure when averaging 103 in a 7-2 triumph over Rob Cross on Tuesday but struggled to get close to his best when Duzza's consistent scoring and clinical finishing put him to the sword by a 7-3 margin.
Anderson's faster style is clearly far more suited to MVG than Durrant's "boring" approach that he's failed to overcome in all three of their meetings so that's why I'm slightly favouring the Dutchman on this occasion.
The Flying Scotsman is far too inconsistent at the moment, averaging 109 in a stunning 7-3 victory over Michael Smith on Tuesday before succumbing to a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Gerwyn Price with a mark of 95.53.
He hit seven of his eight double attempts against Smith, and missed seven of his eight against Price.
We just don't know which Anderson is going to turn up which makes we shy away from any bet that involves his performance and contribution. MVG's Player Performance targets are quite tame even if the match was only seven legs long, so that's where I'll go for this one.
- Predicted scoreline: 7-3
- Suggested bet: Michael van Gerwen to win the match, score over 2.5 180s and checkout over 85.5 at 2/1
Jermaine Wattimena (7/2) v Gerwyn Price (1/2), draw (4/1)
- Head-to-head: 2-4 (TV: 0-0)
- Meetings since start of 2019: 0-1 (TV: 0-1)
- Last Meeting: 4-6 (Players Champ Ireland, Oct 2019)
- Individual Career PDC Titles: 0-11 (TV: 0-2)
- PDC Titles this season: 0-2 (TV: 0-0)
As I wrote in yesterday's preview in relation to both Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena, I'm struggling to see where the burning motivation of being a Challenger this week is going to come from.
Baring in mind the Dutch duo were meant to be performing in front of a packed Rotterdam arena, this crowd-less environment in Milton Keynes certainly isn't what Premier League dreams are made of. De Zwaan didn't play to his best and I'm not expecting fireworks from Jermaine Wattimena either.
At least the Machine Gun does have an opponent who can get anyone fired up in an empty room but unfortunately for him, Price could just about to get on a much-needed role following his confidence boosting 7-1 victory over rival Gary Anderson last night.
The Iceman is very much a momentum player who perhaps struggled more than most to stay sharp without regular tournaments to get his competitive juices flowing and we saw during the Summer Series how he did improve from a poor start as the week progressed.
Price was caught cold by the surreal Marshall Arena atmosphere in the World Matchplay and again during a mediocre display against Nathan Aspinall on Tuesday, but he averaged just over 99 last night despite still being ropey on his doubling.
The two-time Grand Slam of Darts champion, who needs just one leg to guarantee survival, said: ""I'm playing well, I just need to be a little bit more confident. Having five months off, you need games to get yourself going and I just need to play more regularly."
- Predicted scoreline: 3-7
- Suggested bet: Gerwyn Price (-2.5 Legs) to win at 10/11
Peter Wright (8/13) v Daryl Gurney (3/1), draw (7/2)
- Head-to-head: 16-11, 3 draws (TV: 7-7, 3 draws)
- Meetings since start of 2019: 3-4, 1 draw (TV: 2-3, 1 draw)
- Last Meeting: 6-10 (UK Open, 2019)
- Individual Career PDC Titles: 30-5 (TV: 6-2)
- PDC Titles this season: 3-0 (TV: 1-0)
A huge amount of credit goes to Daryl Gurney for clawing his way off the bottom of the table from a perilous position but should we actually be surprised?
SuperChin has made a habit of upsetting the odds throughout his career and I don't actually think he minds being written off at times as it gives him the underdog tag that he so often helps him thrive in adversity.
Although a "tripe" performance was more than enough to beat Chris Dobey, who could only average 79 on Tuesday, Gurney showed real character to defy Nathan Aspinall's average of 103 and five 180s to claim a priceless 7-5 victory that has given him real hope of survival.
He took out a majestic 144 checkout and hit seven of his 11 attempts on doubles, including a match-sealing finish from 82 in the deciding leg when Aspinall was waiting to come back on 90.
Can he produce another display like it against the Peter Wright? Given his leg difference of -5 compared to Rob Cross' -11, Gurney knows even a point would pretty much be enough to avoid elimination.
In any case, the Northern Irishman does have a strong recent record against the world champion having beaten him in three of their last four televised meetings, including this year's UK Open and last year's epic World Matchplay quarter-final.
He's on an upward curve and can make this clash much closer than most will expect. Snakebite has played superbly well over the past two days, however, with a costly miscount in the deciding leg against Durrant on Tuesday preventing him from taking maximum points.
He responded to that draw, in which he averaged 100, hit a 170 checkout and missed just two darts at a doubles, by thrashing Jeffrey de Zwaan 7-1 with a 102 average and a checkout percentage of 58%, but it's fair to say he wasn't put under any pressure that Gurney could.
- Predicted scoreline: 7-5
- Suggested bet: Match to have over 10.5 legs, highest checkout to be over 101.5 and over 4.5 total 180s at 11/8
Glen Durrant (4/5) v Rob Cross (5/2), draw (10/3)
- Head-to-head: 1-1 (TV: 1-0)
- Meetings since start of 2019: 1-1 (TV: 1-1)
- Last Meeting: 3-2 (World Grand Prix, Oct 2020)
- Individual Career PDC Titles: 2-12 (TV: 0-4)
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
Heading into the Premier League resumption, who would have thought Rob Cross would be mathematically relegated before his final game at Judgement Night? That is a very possible reality now should Daryl Gurney beat Peter Wright in the previous match.
Even if the Northern Irishman manages a draw, Voltage will need to thrash the current league leader 7-1 to level the leg difference, which would then bring in legs won against the throw and tournament average into the equation. But let's not worry about that yet.
It's somewhat surprising, therefore, that this fixture if the last of the night because it could end up being a dead rubber of sorts in terms of relegation, whereas Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney would be guaranteed to have that issue on the line.
Cross has not only lost both his matches this week to Michael van Gerwen (7-2) and Michael Smith resoundingly (7-3) but he's performed well below his best with an overall average of 91 overall, two 180s and five out of 22 on the doubles.
Durrant, by contrast, is on a high after a superb 7-3 victory over MVG saw him return to the top of the table having snatched a draw with Peter Wright 24 hours earlier. He averaged 104 against the world number one and quite rightly feels he deserves more respect.
I did actually write in my pre-restart tournament preview that he was being disrespected by the odds - he was remarkably a bigger outsider than anyone other than Gurney to win the title at 12/1 - but he doesn't help himself by being too humble and modest.
For example, he said last night after his victory: "I know I'm a boring player to watch but I'm not a bad player sometimes and that's a big, big win. I can play darts. I'm a three-time BDO world champion but to be in the Premier League is pretty amazing. I'm not as good as Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Michael [van Gerwen] with the speed. I don't have their natural ability, but what I've got is tenacity, hard-work and I'm good in match play, and tonight was right at the top of my game."
All the signs are pointing to another Duzza victory, and I fancy him to do so quite comfortably. With that in mind, I'll take the 7/4 on him to win with the highest checkout at 7/4.
- Predicted scoreline: 7-3
- Suggested bet: Durrant to win and hit the highest checkout at 7/4
2020 Premier League Darts Table
- Durrant P 8 W 5 D 2 L 1 LegD +15 Pts 12
- Van Gerwen P 8 W 5 D 0 L 3 LegD +9 Pts 10
- Wright P 8 W 4 D 2 L 2 LegD +7 Pts 10
- Smith P 8 W 4 D 1 L 3 LegD +4 Pts 9
- Aspinall P 8 W 4 D 1 L 3 LegD +3 Pts 9
- Anderson P 8 W 3 D 2 L 3 LegD -3 Pts 8
- Price P 8 W 2 D 3 L 3 LegD +3 Pts 7
- Gurney P 8 W 2 D 2 L 4 LegD -5 Pts 6
- Cross P 8 W 1 D 3 L 4 LegD -11 Pts 5
Remaining fixtures and dates
* If its decided the O2 can't host the Play-Offs, then it will take place at the Marshall Arena on September 6, with nights 13-16 each taking place 24 hours earlier than the dates listed below.
Night 10, Friday August 28
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Night 11, Saturday August 29
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Night 12, Sunday August 30
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Night 13 - Thursday September 3
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- FixturesTBC
Night 14 - Friday September 4
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Night 15 - Saturday September 5
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Night 16 Sunday September 6
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Fixtures TBC
Play-Offs - Thursday October 22
The O2, London
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
- First v Fourth
- Second v Third
Finals (Best of 21 legs)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
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