It’s the penultimate set of league games on Thursday night, as the remaining eight players travel to Birmingham for night 14 in the Premier League Darts.
Our Grosvenorsport.com expert gives us his thoughts ahead of the meeting in the Midlands.
Peter Wright v Simon Whitlock
The opening game of the night in Birmingham sees two players with little to play for come up against each other in a bottom of the table clash.
Wright has had a Premier League to forget, he’s registered just three wins from his 14 games.
Whitlock pulled of the surprise of the night last week when beating Gary Anderson, however other results didn’t go his way, and so neither player can now make the top four.
The Australian seems to have more fight at the moment, and with Wright seemingly saving his best darts for the European Tour, ‘Snakebite’ may have one eye on the weekend in Germany.
However, with Wright drawing five of his 14 matches so far this season, I’m tempted to take the draw at 4/1.
Rob Cross v Michael van Gerwen
Two of the best players in the world go head to head in match three, as Rob Cross takes on Michael van Gerwen.
Cross has been struggling for form over the last few weeks, failing to win any of his last three Premier League matches, and not making any impression in the Players Championship qualifiers at the weekend.
Van Gerwen has spoken of his desire to win the Premier League this year, and having already qualified for finals night, he’ll want to head to the O2 in winning form.
The Dutchman is giving the impression he is full of confidence at the moment, and a big performance can be expected from ‘Mighty Mike’ – so I’m fully expecting him to win and will be backing him at -3.5 at 6/4.
Gary Anderson v Raymond van Barneveld
Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld take to the stage for the final game of the night, with the Scotsman needing a win to secure his place at finals night.
Anderson was disappointing last week, losing to 7-5 to Simon Whitlock and averaging less than 95.
However, before that defeat, he had been in great form, winning six of his last seven matches.
‘Barney’ got a point last week against Cross, but his chances of qualifying for finals night are now over.
If you take his two games at Rotterdam out of the equation, when he was clearly inspired by his home crowd, he has failed to win any of his last five matches, and Anderson should be able to overcome a -2.5 leg handicap here at 5/6.
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