Night 12 Premier League Darts Preview and Tips – JP
Night 12 Premier League Darts Preview
James Punt went 2/2 on Night 11 of the PL in Aberdeen. This week the circus rolls into Dublin and it promises to be another thrilling night of tungsten tossing. Hopefully James can keep his good run going, check out his Night 12 Premier League Darts previews and tips below.
James Wade vs. Michael van Gerwen
Their career H2H record shows a 46-19 lead for MVG. Since the start of 2020 it is 10-2 and in the 2022 PL, 3-1. The last couple of years have not been good for Van Gerwen, but it hasn’t stopped him dominating James Wade.
MVG has won six of his last ten, as has Wade. Van Gerwen is playing better, more often and he has Wade’s number. The Machine might be one of those increasingly rare things, a player who is still cowed by MVG.
Van Gerwen is the 1.50 favourite to win, Wade 2.75. Of their last eight best of eleven leg matches MVG has won seven. Only two required more than nine legs.
Night 12 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point under 9.5 legs @ 1.80 with SpreadEx
Night 12 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point MVG to win -1.5 legs @ 1.75 with SportingIndex, Fitzdares
Gerwyn Price vs. Joe Cullen
The H2H record here is surprising. Given Price’s ranking and his rise to the top of the World rankings, winning the World Championship and so on, you would expect him to have winning record against Cullen. Wrong! Overall Cullen leads 9-7. In 2022 Cullen leads 3-0 and since 2020 6-2. In this year’s PL, 2-0.
Gerwyn Price is not in form, he has lost six of his last ten matches and across those matches, he is averaging just 91.9. His average over the last 12 months is 98.4. That is a very significant loss of form. His hand injury and some illness has affected him and while he should be on the mend by now, he just hasn’t looked like the kind of Price we have become used to.
Price Struggling
With just five more nights before the play off, Price is in sixth place and nine points off fourth place. He has won just one of his last six PL matches and his hate – hate relationship with the PL continues. I imagine getting barracked by thousands of people every Thursday night might have something to do with it.
Joe Cullen is in fifth place and five points shy of the play off places. He is still in the hunt, but the pressure will only increase. His PL average is just 92.38 and the lowest of the eight players. That underlines how much his B game has improved this year. He has become a more effective player, without becoming any better scoring wise.
Excellent Win Rate
His seasonal average has fallen slightly compared to last year, but his win rate has never been higher (68.5%). Cullen has won six of his last ten PL matches, all in the last five weeks, Price has won one in the same period. Overall, Cullen has won five of his last ten matches and lost his last five in a row (two of them 5-6), so he is not in great form himself.
Price is the 1.57 favourite, Cullen 2.62. The only reason is that Price is the higher ranked player. It is not based on recent form, or H2H records. Price, based on recent form and H2H records, shouldn’t be the favourite. Cullen is learning how to win when not playing great. He hits plenty of 180s and that can turn a leg around quickly.
Night 12 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point Joe Cullen to win @ 2.62 with BET365
Michael Smith vs. Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson sits bottom of the league, one point behind Smith. They are both seriously detached from the play off places, and it is getting to the stage of going through the motions. Anderson beat Smith in the final of Night 6 but since then, neither player has won a match.
Overall Smith has won five of his last ten matches, but just one of his last five. Anderson’s last ten have seen just three wins and he has lost four in a row. In those last ten matches his checkout rate has been 33% or lower in seven.
Two players, out of form, going through the motions isn’t a mouth-watering prospect, but one of them will win. Anderson has a 15-10 HWH record over Smith. He is 2-1 up in 2022 and 6-4 in their last ten.
Michael Smith is the 1.67 favourite, Anderson 2.37. Their H2H record suggests those odds are the wrong way round, but Anderson’s recent form makes him impossible to back, and Smith makes almost as little appeal.
Since the start of 2020 they have played five best of eleven leg matches, only one didn’t end 6-4.
Night 12 Premier League Darts Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.95 with Boylesports
Jonny Clayton vs. Peter Wright
The Ferret sits on top of the league after beating MVG in last week’s final. He is six points clear of Wright, who hasn’t won a night since Night 1. Clayton has now won three PL nights, but they have both won eight of their eleven quarter final matches.
Their H2H record is 12-8 to Wright, it is 3-3 in 2022 (Clayton has won the last three) and in this years PL, Clayton is 3-0.
In terms of recent form, Clayton has won seven of his last ten, Wright just four and he has lost five of his last six. He is still winning plenty of legs but losing 4-6 or 5-6.
Tenacious Ferret
Clayton is not quite in top form, but he is a very tenacious player. He loves a scrap, and he must be very tough to play against. Very little fazes him, and he seems to cope with pressure better than anybody.
Wright tends to get more frustrated, maybe overthinks things and his decision to stop changing his darts so often is another example. It should be a good thing, but why now? Why has he changed his modus operandi? He thinks he needs to. We don’t see The Ferret fretting about changing his equipment. He doesn’t have to think about much, just hitting treble 20’s and the doubles.
Clayton is the 1.67 favourite, Wright 2.20. Maybe Clayton is a bit of value at those odds, but not by a huge margin.
Their three PL matches so far have ended 6-5, 6-4 and 6-5. Wright may be losing too many games recently, but he is rarely getting stuffed.
