2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Preview & Tips – JP
2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Preview
It has been tough going for James Punt so far in the PL. On Night 2 we were a solitary leg away from a lovely correct score winner and Chris Dobey just missed out by the narrowest of margins too. James is back to try again with four more free tips. Get his 2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts preview below.
Night 3 Preview
Last week was the Premier League that I have become used to. Three bets and three losers. For whatever reason, it is a money pit. So let’s have a look at tonight’s quarter final matches and see where money can be disposed of.
Glasgow is the venue tonight. The third Celtic crowd in a row and if my memory serves me well, one of the worst crowds on the rota. The Scottish fans only have the Cockney Jock, Peter Wright, to cheer for, as there is no Gary Anderson to worship anymore. Expect just about everyone else to get abuse. It seems to be the semi-final matches onwards, when the lager has kicked in, that the fights start, and the booing and whistling moves up a few gears.
Gerwyn Price got the full five points in Cardiff last week. He enjoyed playing three matches without getting abuse from the crowd. He will not be afforded the same luxury tonight.
The league is only two weeks old and it is too early to say anyone is really under pressure, but we have four players all on five points, while Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton have yet to get a score on the board.
Nathan Aspinall vs. Michael van Gerwen
Both players are on five points, with MVG having the best league average of 102.2, Aspinall 97.9. The Asp has played ten matches in 2022 and won five. He won two matches at last weekend’s two Players Championship events, hitting two ton plus averages in PC1 before losing 5-6 to Daryl Gurney.
His checkout stats are a bit erratic, with four of his last ten matches seeing checkout rates of less than 28%, but he has had three with 60% or better. Needless to say, he lost the matches when missing his doubles. In a nutshell, he is playing well enough scoring wise, but he is very unpredictable in terms of doubling.
Frustrated MVG
MVG must be getting a bit frustrated. He is playing well in 2023, but has lost half of his last ten matches. Like Aspinall, he won just two matches at the weekend’s Players Championship events and his last two matches saw sub 90 averages, a long way off his usual near 100 average for 2023. Surely it is too early to be talking about him getting tired?
Their overall H2H record is 12-5 to MVG, with one PL draw. Van Gerwen has won their last six. Aspinall’s last win over MVG was a PL match in 2021 and in their four PL matches played, it is 2-1 to Aspinall, with one draw.
MVG is the 1.38 favourite with Aspinall 3.20. The value looks to be with Aspinall but his recent H2H record against MVG and erratic doubling is enough for me to pass on this one.
2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Tip: No bet
Peter Wright vs. Dimitri van den Bergh
Like MVG and Aspinall, Peter Wright has lost five of his last ten matches, including back to back 3-6 quarter final defeats in Belfast and Cardiff. His scoring is generally good and five of his last ten matches have seen ton plus averages, and he has averaged 100.4 across his two PL matches so far.
He really isn’t doing a lot wrong, but in a best of 11 leg format it happens. This a ‘home’ match for Wright, but his record in Glasgow is indifferent with two wins, three defeats and two draws, his last win being a 7-5 win over James Wade in 2017.
Dimitri van den Bergh has the one PL win to his credit so far, is averaging 95.2 and he has won six of his last ten matches. He won five of his seven matches at the weekend and is playing well enough, if lacking in a little consistency.
Their H2H record is 13-3 to Wright, with one draw. Dimitri has won just one of their last eleven matches. That is a very positive record for Snakebite.
Wright is the 1.62 favourite to win, with Van den Bergh 2.40. Given their H2H record the odds look about right, perhaps a touch generous about Wrights chances.
2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Tip: No Bet
Gerwyn Price vs. Michael Smith
The market is finding it hard to find a favourite here. Price is 1.95 and Smith 1.91.
Price won the night in Cardiff last week, the one venue where he won’t be barracked. We have to remember that Price struggles in the PL. It must be very difficult for him to perform while being abused, and he will get the full treatment tonight. There were two 6-5 wins for Price last week and while he wasn’t quite at his best, he showed more fight than he has recently.
Price decided to miss last weekend’s Players Championships tournaments. Smith did play and won seven of his nine matches. Neither player has been hitting many 180s in the PL so far, 0.22 per leg for Price and just 0.14 for Smith, which is a mile away from his usual standard. He didn’t hit a single one against Aspinall in ten legs last week.
Smith Edges H2H
Their H2H record is 20-17 to Smith, with two PL draws. They met four times under this format in 2021, with Smith winning three, two of them 6-3 and the other 6-4. That 6-4 was the only one to last more than nine legs. They have played 20 best of eleven leg matches and half have been over 9.5 legs, but eight of their last ten have been under 9.5.
I have the feeling that Smith will win. They met here at the quarter final stage last year and Smith won 6-3. Price has yet to win a match in Glasgow with two defeats and one draw. This will be my main betting match for this week.
2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point Michael Smith to win @ 1.91 generally available
Night 3 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point under 6.5 180s @ 1.73 with SpreadEx;
2023 Night 3 Premier League Darts Tip: 0.5 point Smith to win 6-3 @ 8.00 with Unibet
Jonny Clayton vs. Chris Dobey
It has been a bad start for PL specialist, Jonny Clayton. He has lost both his quarter final matches so far, is averaging 94.8, hit just two 180s and his checkout rate is just 29%. He has won seven of his last ten matches after winning seven in last weekend’s Players Championships. He was playing better, and it will be interesting if he can bring that floor form to the stage.
Dobey has also won seven of his last ten matches, won the first night in Belfast, but lost 5-6 to Price in last week’s quarter final. He is playing at a good level, is playing consistently and is hard to beat. Two of his three defeats were 5-6 and eight of his last ten matches have seen over 9.5 legs.
Their H2H record is 4-4 but they have not met for 18 months.
Ferret Must Improve
Clayton needs to up his game here. Another pointless week and he will start to feel more pressure. He isn’t playing badly but he is still not at his best. Dobey is feeling confident, hard to beat, but he hasn’t been dazzling. Clayton is the 1.73 favourite which seems a little short, but Dobey doesn’t make a lot of appeal at 2.20.
Clayton has been poor on his maximums so far, hitting just two at a rate of 0.12 per leg, while Dobey has managed eleven at 0.27. Clayton’s paucity on the 180s is not new and in his last thirty two matches he has had nine which saw him fail to hit a single one, and eighteen with less than 0.20 per leg.
