Premier League Darts Side-Markets

Our ante post outright winner bet for the PDC Premier League was posted a couple of weeks ago. Jonny Clayton’s best odds have now been cut from the 21.00 advised, to best priced 13.00. With the first five rounds to be played next week, the bookmakers have priced up various Premier League Darts side-markets which often provide a few opportunities.

Premier League Darts Side-Markets: To be relegated

How things can change. Last years Premier League was won by Glen Durrant, who beat Nathan Aspinall in the final. This season Duzza is just 1.57 to be relegated and Aspinall 2.50. Rob Cross is the second favourite for relegation at 2.20.

The reasons are obvious. Glen Durrant’s drop in form is the most marked and his 3 dart average (90.61) has dropped 6 points from his 2019 and 2020 levels. He is now below the tour card holders average of 92.5. Having to play against nine of the very best players in the world is going to be tough unless he can find something close to his A game.

The problem is that his A game hasn’t be seen for quite some time. Last September to be precise. He averaged 102.5 when beating MVG in the quarter final of the World Series of Darts finals, and 102.4 when losing 9-10 to James Wade in the semi-final. Three weeks layer he won the Premier League, but his form had already started to dip. The PL semi-final vs. Gary Anderson saw Durrant average 86 and it was 91.8 against Aspinall in the final. Not exactly stunning.

Covid Issues

Contracting Covid19 shortly afterwards simply compounded what was a dip in form into a full blown slump. Duzza has said that he noticed that he was slipping too many darts into the 5 bed. Once he became aware of it, it got worse, and his confidence just went. Ever since he has been trying to rediscover that confidence, without success.

There hasn’t been a ton plus average from Durrant since that WSOD semi-final last September. Mid 90’s averages are now his peak. Duzza was never one of the really heavy scorers and his strength was in getting the result. He could win matches despite having a much lower average than his opponent. He was very hard to beat. That quality still gets him wins but against players at this level? That will be very hard.

Durrants best hope of making the cut is that there are other players in this years PL who are also struggling for form.

Consistency Concerns For Cross

Rob Cross is the second favourite to be relegated. His loss of form was present in 2020 when he dropped 4 points on his averages from the previous three years. He failed to win a title in 2020, the first time since getting his tour card in 2017. Like Durrant, a lack of confidence is obvious. Cross can still hit the high notes and does so more often than Duzza but there is a lack of consistency. You are never sure what you are going to get with Cross. Too often it is poor performance and playing one good match is no indication that the same will happen in the next.

Cross should win matches, but he only managed one win last year, with three draws and was relegated as a result. His average in the 2020 PL was 94.61. His average so far in 2021? 94.69. If that was not good enough last year, will it be this year? Like Glen Durrant, he isn’t playing well enough to be competitive in the league. But could there be two players worse than him?

Lack Of Crowds Hindering The Asp

Nathan Aspinall is the 2.50 third favourite for relegation. He won two players championship titles in 2020 but both before the first lockdown. He has been very clear that he finds playing without a crowd more difficult. The Asp needs to get the adrenaline flowing and hasn’t been able to find a way to get going without the razzmatazz of a crowd cheering him onto the big stage.

Aspinall started playing with a new design of dart last year. However, after losing to Lisa Ashton in the first players championship event at the recent Super Series 2, he got his partner to send his old darts to the hotel for the next day. He averaged 107 in the first match with his old friends, but still lost. He won three matches in the final two days but there was no repeat of that 107 average.

Aspinall is talking positively about his chances, saying that off oche matters had been a distraction for him and they have been sorted out. Back with his old darts, he expects to improve his form.

Dancing Dimitri’s Scoring Could Save Him

Dimitri van den Bergh is a 4.50 shot to be relegated and with just three matches won in 2021, he must be considered. His scoring is a lot better than Durrant, Cross and Aspinall, but losing can become a habit. His isn’t fully fit which doesn’t help. One plus for him is that he is now sharing a house with Demon Heta, not a bad practice partner. Van den Bergh is scoring well enough that he really should be able to win a couple of matches. That well might be enough this year.

The others should all be good enough to get past judgement night. Gary Anderson isn’t playing great but like last year, playing every day will help him play himself in to better form. He should amass enough points to be safe. His first three matches are very tough however. He faces Price on night 1, De Sousa on night 2 and Wright on night 3.

It would be no surprise to see him coming up empty handed out of those matches. He should get something out of Duzza on night 4 before he faces Clayton on night 5. He could be near the bottom of the table before the second round of matches resume on the 19th of April. His fixtures in that second session of phase 1 matches are more winnable, so long as he doesn’t get a strop on.

No Value In Duzza

Glen Durrant does look the most likely to be relegated but that is reflected in odds of 1.57. He can’t be dismissed completely and there are other players who are struggling almost as much as him. His opening fixtures at least give him the best chance of getting some points banked early on as he faces Aspinall, Van den Bergh and Anderson in three of the first five nights. Those are his must win, or at least not lose matches.

Rob Cross has a horrible run of opening fixtures. He opens against De Sousa followed by Price, MVG, Clayton and Wright. That is a tough gig. Cross, low on confidence could be deflated by night five. Last year he was on five points with three to play and Daryl Gurney was on just two points. It was Gurney who won two of his last three while Cross folded with three straight defeats to miss the cut. His last match of phase 1 is against Glen Durrant. That might just be the decider for relegation.

Premier League Darts Side-Market: 1 point Rob Cross to be relegated @ 2.20 with Betfair, Paddy Power, Betfred

Most 180’s

Obviously you need a player who looks very likely to avoid relegation and who hits a lot of maximums. Getting to the play-offs would be a bonus but not essential as five of the last seven most 180 winners have not reached finals night. Of the last eight most 180 winners (the ten player format came in 2013) only MVG (2016) is in this years event. However, MVG is not amongst the best 180 hitters anymore, that honour goes to Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Of the PL players, the 180 monster in the field is Jose de Sousa who has been hitting at 0.39 per leg on the floor, although it was just 0.31 on stage at the UK Open. He got his eye in at the recent Super Series 2 with a whopping 0.615 per leg in his final match vs. Brendan Dolan.

It is the Portuguese players first PL but with it being another behind closed doors event, he will be treating it just like any other of the big majors. Hopefully he can carry on smashing the treble 20 and he should be able to avoid relegation.

Premier League Darts Side-Markets: 1 point Jose de Sousa to hit the most 180’s in the Premier League @ 5.00 with William Hill and Unibet

-JamesPunt