A unique situation last week after the Premier League was cancelled at the last minute due to the snow storms in the UK. It was deemed unsafe for people to even go outside, so the call had to be made to cancel which was disappointing for darts fans. The session has now been rescheduled for later in the year.
Fortunately the UK Open went ahead, without an audience, to give us some darts to watch to pass the time. It was a great event with Aussie young gun Corey Cadby going all the way to the final before falling to Gary Anderson in a tough 11-7 loss. It won’t be the last we see of “The King” in a TV final. Other notable performances from the Premier League include Rob Cross who lost to Anderson in the semis, and Gerwyn Price who made it to the quarter-finals before losing to Cadby.
Let’s take a look at what’s on offer for us for Week 6 of the Unibet Premier League of Darts!
Michael van Gerwen vs Simon Whitlock
After suffering his first loss of the Premier League season two weeks ago, Aussie Simon Whitlock now faces the toughest test of them all against world number one Michael van Gerwen. Whitlock is going to have to play out of his skin to stay with MVG, and while his checkouts have been good this season, he will need to find the treble 20 more regularly to have a chance here.
It gets worse for Whitlock as MVG is coming off a shock early exit from the UK Open. A fired-up MVG is usually an unstoppable force and unfortunately for Whitlock he’s going to cop the full brunt of that storm. This could get ugly.
TIP: Michael van Gerwen to win & Most 180s - $1.80 at Sportsbet
Gerwyn Price vs Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld got a reprieve last week as we were smashing Michael Smith to beat him before the event was cancelled. He’s followed that up with a poor showing at the UK Open losing to Mervyn King 10-4 in the round of 64 with an average of 86.78. Not exactly inspiring stuff. I’m a fan of Barney but he just doesn’t look interested at the moment, so there’s no way I can back him against anyone until he shows a pulse.
On the other hand, Gerwyn Price is always popping with enthusiasm and he’ll see this as a great opportunity to get his first win of the season and get off the bottom of the leaderboard. He was solid at the UK Open, and came within one dart of a perfect nine-darter which would’ve given him a £35,000 bonus! He needs to bring that sort of scoring to the Premier League. Barney won’t put the scoring pressure on that he’s faced in other matches, so hopefully he’ll get enough opportunities to get the win.
Only a small play here as confidence isn’t high in either of these guys, but Price is clearly the value.
TIP: Gerwyn Price to win - $3.55 at UBET
Peter Wright vs Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright finds himself in the top four of the Premier League, despite only one win from four matches, but he has played the top three players in the world. The draw will open up for Wright now, and he should be able to solidify his position towards the top. Despite an early exit from the UK Open, Wright secured a draw two weeks ago against Gary Anderson, and that is proving to be good form.
Mensur Suljovic is also in good form so this should be an entertaining match. Suljovic grabbed his first Premier League points two weeks ago with a very strong win against Gerwyn Price. The numbers suggest that Suljovic is playing better than his position on the leaderboard with an average over 100 and a checkout percentage of 44.19% - both the third best numbers in the league.
I think this match could be close, and Suljovic can put in a strong showing. You could consider the +2.5 leg handicap, but I think we’re getting better value taking the overs in the legs market, assuming that Suljovic won’t be able to run away with it.
TIP: Wright vs Suljovic over 11.5 legs - $2.32 at CrownBet
Gary Anderson vs Daryl Gurney
A red-hot Gary Anderson, fresh off his UK Open victory, takes on Daryl Gurney here and will be looking to continue his run of form. At his best, Anderson is near impossible to stop and lately, that’s been the case. He fell behind early against Corey Cadby in the UK Open final, but he’s so solid that he forced his way back into it and clenched the title with utter professionalism.
He comes up against Daryl Gurney who is surprisingly still winless in the Premier League, but it’s hard to see his first win coming here. Gurney has been scoring well, but his checkouts are easily the worst in the league. As we mentioned last week, he is yet to land a ton-plus checkout this season, and we’ll make a play on that again here.
There’s not a lot of value in the Anderson win price, but you could combine with the High Checkout to get some value. Alternatively, you may like to again take the over 99.5 for his average which has proved profitable for us recently.
TIP: Gary Anderson win and High Checkout - $2.20 at Sportsbet
TIP: Gary Anderson Average over 99.5 - $1.83 at Sportsbet
TIP: Daryl Gurney High Checkout under 100.5 - $1.76 at CrownBet
Rob Cross vs Michael Smith
The most interesting match of the night will see Rob Cross take on the undefeated league leader Michael Smith. Cross is starting to get back to his best after a bit of a World Championships hangover. He reached the semi-finals of the UK Open and has put together two wins on the trot in the Premier League – against Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld.
This will be a good challenge for Cross, but we know what he can bring to the table. I feel like this match is more about Michael Smith. If he brings the form that he’s shown at the start of the season, then there’s no doubt Smith can win this match, but this is his first real test. If Cross is playing well, then the pressure will be on Smith and we’ll have to see how he can handle that.
If we look at the numbers for Smith, his average this season is virtually the same as Gerwyn Price at just 92.60. Clearly Smith’s timing has been key, with 13 legs won against the throw, easily the best in the league.
If Smith can pressure Cross’ throw, then I think he is a good chance, and he looks the value in this match at $3.60 at Unibet, but I can’t quite bring myself to take it. Instead I’m going to go with the over legs line and anticipate it going the distance.
TIP: Cross vs Smith over 11.5 legs - $2.24 at CrownBet
