We got off to a superb start on Night 11 with two winning bets landed at 2.25 and 6.50 on the Aspinall vs Van Den Bergh match. The rest of the night was a struggle but James Punt is hoping to get back on track tonight. Check out his Night 12 Premier League Darts tips and preview below…

Night 12 Premier League: Peter Wright vs Jose De Sousa

It was a frustrating night last night, not least with De Sousa throwing away a win and missing darts to land a 10.00 bet. He was 6-2 up but Wade came back with legs of 14, 13 and 14 darts to make it 6-5. De Sousa then made hard work of twelve leg, winning it with 20 darts (he missed seven doubles). Leg thirteen saw him miss four doubles to win 8-5 and instead it was Wade who won the last two legs to get a draw. Painful.

Peter Wright was on the wrong end of a rare top-class display from Gary Anderson, who averaged 104.6. That was only his sixth ton plus average in 2021 and his second highest average of the year. Peter Wright on the other hand was poor, averaging 92 with just 30% on the doubles. He appeared to be bothered by a sore shoulder, but he was also changing his darts mid-match.

Wright Injury Worry

Clearly if Wright is still carrying an injury, he is in trouble here. His performances this week have both been poor. He is bottom of the table and three points off fourth place. Is he set for yet another poor Premier League? It looks like it.

De Sousa wasn’t great on the doubles last night and it cost him the match as us a nice profit. However, he hit another 10 maximums and this scoring power does give him many more chances to get to the doubles first and that should be the case once more, especially if Wright has another night of low scoring.

De Sousa is the 1.80 favourite, Wright 3.50 with the draw at 5.25.

If De Sousa is to win, and he should, it could well be by a wide margin. Wright has lost five matches with an average score of 3.4 – 7.4. Take De Sousa to cover the handicap.

Night 12 Premier League Tip: 1 point De Sousa to win -3.5 legs @ 3.25 with Betfred

Michael van Gerwen vs. James Wade

The MVG comeback was short lived. After his 110 average on Wednesday night, he could only manage 95.8 against Jonny Clayton last night. Sadly for us Clayton could not take advantage, averaging just 93.6, his worst performance in the PL and his fourth lowest average of 2021. It was hugely disappointing, and he has dropped out of top 4 as a result. It wasn’t a good performance by MVG, but he got the two points and will convince himself that he is the man to beat.

The H2H record is 40-17 to MVG but Wade won the first phase match 7-3 and MVG has failed to beat Wade in their last three PL matches.

James Wade was lucky to get a point with De Sousa as The Special One let the match slip through his fingers. That said Wade never gave up, averaged 97 and six of his legs won were 15 or fewer darts.

Consistency Key For MVG

This match revolves around whether Van Gerwen can return to his ton plus game, or his more common B game, which was back on display last night. We should rely on James Wade to stick in. He has had three poor performances from his first eleven matches (I will not count a 90 average against Glen Durrant as that was just a cruise and collect match), but overall Wade has scored well and above his 12 month average of 95.8, and he tops the checkout % table. His superior finishing skills could be the difference here, especially if MVG is not firing on all cylinders.

Van Gerwen is the 1.91 favourite; Wade is 3.40 and the draw at 5.00.

Night 12 Premier League Tip: 1 point James Wade to win @ 3.40 with Betfred

Night 12 Premier League: Jonny Clayton vs. Nathan Aspinall

The Asp remains top of the league despite narrowly losing 6-8 to Dimitri van den Bergh in a high-quality encounter. He averaged 103.3 and was 50% on the doubles but Van den Bergh was just that bit better, hitting a 13 dart leg to win the deciding leg. Aspinall was a bit huffy in the opening legs but it was a slow start to the match by both player before they kicked off and played great stuff.

Jonny Clayton played poorly last night and missed a great opportunity to beat MVG for the fourth time this year. Hitting his fourth worst average of the year came at the wrong time and he now has to pick himself up against a player who is playing at a very high level. Clayton has been the highest scorer in the PL but that took a hit last night as his scoring was poor, the trebles were elusive, and he failed to hit a single 180.

Their H2H record is 4-2 to Aspinall with their first phase match ending in a draw. That draw ended a run of four straight wins for Aspinall.

The bookmakers are struggling to split them. Jonny Clayton is 2.40, Aspinall 2.50 with a draw at 4.80.

This is too hard to call. If Clayton returns to his usual 2021 form, he should get something out of the match, but if his scoring goes AWOL again, Aspinall could wrap up a comfortable in. No bet.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Gary Anderson

24 Hours ago, this would have looked like a simple two point pick up for Van den Bergh, but a 104 average and 57% checkout for Anderson makes that less certain.

Gary Anderson had been pretty poor in this PL, averaging 96.3 but just 35% on the doubles, the lowest in the league. If he really has turned a corner in that department, then we have a game on.

Their first phase match saw a 7-5 win for Van den Bergh in what was one of the worst matches of the entire league. Dimitri averaged just 87, Anderson 91. Gary was just 18.75% on the doubles, Dimitri 21.88% and both hit four 180’s.

That match is unlikely to be much of a guide for tonight’s encounter as it is hard to see either player being so bad again.

Their H2H record is 3-0 to Van den Bergh with that one draw. Anderson’s win was on the remote ‘home tour’.

Van den Bergh is the 1.91 Favourite, Anderson 3.40 with the draw at 5.00.

VDB Better Overall

Van den Bergh has been by far the better player overall and he has been playing more matches in the Super Series, where he picked up his first players championship a couple of weeks ago. Gary Anderson must find that A game he produced last night. Even if he does, he will still have a huge task against an in-form Van den Bergh who has averaged 104 over the last two nights.

The odds look about right to me for the outright betting but the total 180’s market looks to have a bit of value. Both are good maximum hitters and their combined 180 per leg strike rate is 0.725. The bookmakers reckon this should be a 12 or 13 leg match which suggest we should see nearer nine than eight. They managed eight in the shorter first phase match.

Night 12 Premier League Tip: 1 point over 8.5 maximums at 2.05 with Unibet

-JamesPunt