Night 15 Premier League Of Darts Preview – JP
Night 15 Premier League Darts Preview
Now, it’s time for James Punt’s Night 15 Premier League of Darts preview.
Just two more nights before we finally get to the final, which won’t actually take place until 13th June in Berlin. We now have two confirmed finalists, Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen. Gary Anderson is definitely eliminated.
There are still two play-off places up for grabs and five players technically in with a chance of making it to Berlin.
James Wade is on 25 points in third place, but we await news as to whether he will take part this week. He is due to play Peter Wright in the quarter finals and with Wright in fourth place on 20 points, he will not want to hand Snakebite a 6-0 win.
Gerwyn Price has moved up to fifth place after winning night 14 and he has put himself very much in the frame. With Wright in very poor form, and Wade’s fitness a big question mark, Price can see a big chance here.
Joe Cullen is just one point behind Price with Michael Smith a more detached seventh and six points off the play off places.
Gerwyn Price vs. Jonny Clayton
Price won night 14 last week to keep his hopes very much alive. His overall form remains mixed, with five wins from his last ten matches. He was very positive after winning last week but was then knocked out in his opening match in Prague at the weekend. He lost 3-6 to Adrian Lewis and there was a confrontation at the end of the match. The Iceman still does not look in great form and is feeling it.
Jonny Clayton is in a bit of a slump by his standards. He was the first to qualify for the play offs, so the only pressure he has is to qualify as the winner and be the top seed for the play offs. The Ferret has lost five of his last ten matches but in his last three, he lost 4-6, 5-6 and 5-6 with averages of 99.3, 96.5 and 100.4. His slumps are most players dreamland, but he does not want to get into a losing habit, scoring well or not.
H2H Close
Their H2H record is 12-9 to Price overall, 2-2 in the last 24 months and 2-0 to Clayton in 2022. They have only met once in this year’s PL and Clayton won 6-5 on night 7.
The market has Clayton as the marginal 1.91 favourite and Price 1.95. I’m not betting on anymore PL matches, but if I was, I would still pass this one by. Neither are in top form but could spark up at any minute. We have backed Clayton to win the league, so hopefully he picks up more points and can finish on top of the table next week.
Night 15 Premier League of Darts Tip: No Bet
Michael Smith vs. Michael van Gerwen
Smith was on a 15 match winning run before he lost to Van Gerwen in last week’s semi-final when he lost 5-6. He then went to Prague and lost his opening match to Rowby-John Rodriguez. Bully Boy has picked up a win in each of the last three weeks but lost in the following semi-final. He is going to have to win all three matches to keep alive any realistic chance of reaching the play offs, so he is under the cosh.
MVG has qualified for the play-offs and now he wants to top the league. He is motivated, but not under any great pressure. He has made the final in three of the last four PL nights, has won eight of his last ten matches, has a 37-10 H2H record over Smith and is 5-0 up in this year’s PL. The last three of those PL matches have all ended 6-5.
Van Gerwen has a bit of a mental hold over Smith. They have played seven best of eleven matches in the last 24 months and five have been won 6-5 by Van Gerwen. That would seem to be the logical bet here, but I’m not betting it, even if 9.00 looks a cracking price.
Night 15 Premier League of Darts Tip: No Bet
James Wade vs. Peter Wright
There must be a doubt as to whether this match takes place. Wade was hospitalised in Germany less than two weeks ago and we don’t know what was wrong with him, how he is and so on. Fit or not, mentally he must be a bit of an unknown quantity.
Peter Wright’s form has collapsed for no obvious reason. He has lost ten of his last eleven matches, has lost four of his last five PL matches and is hanging on to fourth place, with two nights to go. He is under pressure. Snakebite withdrew from the Czech Darts Open last weekend. No reason was given, maybe he just felt a rest was best. Whatever, he needs a win, and he might well be gifted it if Wade remains unfit to play.
This is a match to give a wide berth.
Night 15 Premier League of Darts Tip: No Bet
Joe Cullen vs. Gary Anderson
With Anderson out of the running, he is just going through the motions, and he must be delighted to be playing last up. If he was on first, he might have had a chance to be home by midnight.
Joe Cullen is still in the hunt for a play-off spot, but he needs two big nights. He isn’t in great form and lost six of his last ten matches. His PL league table place flatters him as he has picked up 4 free points due to opponents dropping out. Without those points? He would be below Michael Smith and all but out.
Their H2H record is 9-6 to Anderson but 2-1 to Cullen in 2022 and 1-0 in this year’s PL.
Cullen is at least motivated to win, what Gary’s mindset will be is anyone’s guess. He could try and win the night and the £10k bonus, but he has only won a single match in his last seven PL nights, and that was against an out of form Peter Wright in Glasgow.
Cullen is the 1.67 favourite, hardly great value given his form, but against an unmotivated Anderson, the odds are about right.
