2023 Night 12 Premier League Of Darts Tips – JP
2023 Night 12 Premier League Of Darts Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2023 Night 12 Premier League of Darts preview.
Night 12 comes from the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. Last week’s action was a Gerwyn Price masterclass as he won his fourth night of the league so far. That moved him to 27 points and just two behind Van Gerwen.
Just three points separate the next three players in the table, Michael Smith is on 18, Jonny Clayton on 17 and Nathan Aspinall with 15. The remaining three are becoming detached, with Dobey on 10, Van den Bergh 9 and Wright 7. Snakebite has won five of his seven points in the last two weeks, Van den Bergh has not picked up a single point in the last four and Dobey for the last three.
From our punting point of view last week saw a 1.21 profit which takes us back into the black with a heady +0.77 points.
Chris Dobey vs. Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton spent the first half of the league stuck near the bottom of the table but he has now climbed into the top four. However, he has work to do if he is to stay there. He failed to score last week after landing back to back night wins, but he remains in good form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He reached the semi-final of PC9 on Saturday, losing a deciding leg to eventual title winner, Krzysztof Ratajski.
These two have a H2H record of 5-4 to Clayton and he won their only meeting in the PL so far, a comfortable 6-1 win on Night 3. Both players averaged over 100 in that match but Dobey was only 10% on the doubles. Clayton also won their previous match 6-1, back in 2021.
Scoreless Nights Adding Up
Chris Dobey has played well enough in the PL. He has the fourth best average and the second best checkout rate, but he has failed to score in eight of the eleven nights so far. His recent form isn’t great with five defeats from his last ten matches played.
Dobey is struggling to find a win in the PL while Clayton has found some good form in the last few weeks. The Ferret is the 1.73 favourite with Dobey 2.30.
2023 Night 12 Premier League of Darts Tip: 1 point Jonny Clayton to win @ 1.72 with SpreadEx
Michael Smith vs. Gerwyn Price
Both players took last weekend off to take a family holiday and recharge the batteries. Both went on their holidays in a good frame of mind with Smith having won seven of his last ten matches and picking up a Euro Tour title. Price had won eight of his last ten matches and eight of those saw ton plus averages, including 116, 108 and 100 in last week’s PL, which he won.
Price seems to have finally come to terms with the PL. It was mostly torture for him in recent years but now he is, dare I say, enjoying it. His charm offensive and excellent standard of play is shutting up the boo boys which makes life so much more pleasant for him. Smith is a better player ever since winning his first TV major at the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts and is more relaxed.
Close H2H
There is plenty of recent H2H form to go on here. Overall it is 22-20 to Smith and in 2023, 3-3. The latest match was just last week and Price won that 6-3. Of their five best of eleven leg matches in 2023, none have required more than nine legs and only two of their last fourteen best of eleven leg matches have need more than nine legs.
Gerwyn Price is the 1.61 favourite which is understandable given his remarkable display last week. I’ll take a chance on another match with a wide margin of victory.
2023 Night 12 Premier League of Darts Tip: 1 point under 9.5 legs @ 1.85 with Unibet
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Peter Wright
Wright may be bottom of the table, but his recent form is better than that of Dimitri. The Belgian has lost his last four PL matches in a row, while Wright has won three of his last five.
Van den Bergh played at last weekend’s players championship events and reached the semi-final of PC10 on Sunday. He played well, if a little inconsistently, but winning five matches in a row will have given his confidence a much needed boost. He knows that this is a must win match if he is to have a realistic chance of making the play offs.
They have met just once in this year’s PL and it was Van den Bergh who won 6-4 on night 3. Overall Wright leads the H2H’s 13-4 and since the start of 2022 it is 2-2.
Miserable Season
Wright has had a miserable season with family health issues once again affecting his form. Things are getting back on an even keel again and his form is picking up, but he has kept to a very light schedule and skipped last weekend’s pro tour events. That strikes me as odd for a player who needs to get matches under his belt in order to regain his form. Perhaps things are still not right off the oche.
Snakebite has won five of his last ten matches and there have been some good performances and some not so good. He has wins over Price, Smith and Aspinall. He only lost in a deciding leg in last week’s semi-final with Smith and averaged 99.3, but there has still been some duff performances, such as his 1-6 loss to Lee Evans on the Euro Tour. Wright is improving, but he is not yet banker material.
Pressure On Dimi
I would suggest that Van den Bergh will be feeling a bit more pressure than Wright. The Scot has been bottom of the table since week three and written off early. His is a mathematical chance, he can still qualify but it is a very long shot. He can just go for it, there is nothing to lose.
Van den Bergh has never really been in the hunt but still harboured hopes that he could do it, but the last four weeks have kicked the confidence out of him and put a huge dent in his chances. This is the last chance saloon. A loss to the bottom of the table player would be a very big nail in his PL coffin.
Wright is the 1.70 favourite and Van den Bergh 2.20. That looks right to me. Wright has played better in the limited number of matches he has played recently, while Van den Bergh’s run to the pro tour semi-final on Sunday might just have got his tail up.
This looks like a coin toss and not a great betting opportunity. No bet.
2023 Night 12 Premier League of Darts Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Nathan Aspinall
The Asp had been in the top 4 places for the first nine weeks. He was picking up quarter final wins most nights, but he has only made one final and is one of three not to have won a night and the five points.
A lot of pundits were saying that two points a week would be plenty but when you inevitably lose a QF or two suddenly, the pressure is on. He can see his chance starting to slip. He is only two points out of the play off places but just picking up two points a week may not be enough. The top 4 have all won at least one night and had more finals. His battle is now with Smith and Clayton, and they are in better form.
MVG On Top
Van Gerwen is still on top of the table but Price has been catching him at a rate of knots. Price is the best player in the world right now and MVG knows it. If he wants to keep alive his chances of topping the table once again, and picking up the bonus for doing so, he will likely need to win at least one more night and he can’t afford quarter final defeats. He has lost four of his last ten matches but hit eight 98 plus averages and four ton plus from his last five. There is not a lot wrong with his game.
Their H2H record is 15-6 to Van Gerwen. In this year’s PL it is 3-1 and Aspinall has won just one of their last ten. He struggles against MVG and Van Gerwen knows it, he can bully him. Their last match was four weeks ago and Van Gerwen won that 6-0 and he is 17-10 in legs won vs. Aspinall in this year’s PL.
Both players took the chance to have a family holiday since last Thursdays PL so they cannot blame fatigue for a duff performance. MVG is the 1.33 favourite with Aspinall 3.50. Van Gerwen is Aspinall’s bogeyman and he will have the support of a huge Dutch crowd cheering him on. MVG has played nine matches here, won seven and rarely not averaged over a ton. He won all three matches last year to take the five points.
