Premier League Darts - Night 10 Predictions & tips
Debutants Luke Humphries and Luke Littler and seven-time winner Michael van Gerwen are looking ominously like they are going to fill the first three Premier League play-off places.
And that means the other five stars in the field could be competing for just one semi-final spot as the tension continues to ratchet up ahead of the Night 10 action at the AO Arena in Manchester.
Nathan Aspinall vs Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall would rather play Rob Cross than anyone else in the field right now and has to be backed to extend his dominance over the 2018 world champion.
These two have met four times in the competition over the first nine weeks, Cross has been favourite every time - and The Asp has bagged the lot.
Aspinall has been to four finals - including in Belfast last Thursday - compared to Cross, who has suffered three straight quarter-final losses. Five points separate the pair of them in the table and let that - and the head-to-head record - determine how you bet.
Tip 1: Nathan Aspinall to win @ 49/50
Luke Littler vs Michael van Gerwen
Littler and Van Gerwen clash in a rematch of last week’s semi-final, which was won by the teenager 6-5, a second straight win over the Dutchman.
Littler went on to take the five points for winning on the evening, his first win of his debut campaign.
That’s earned him favouritism for the latest instalment of a rivalry which is going to run and run. Littler did the match and most 180s double last week and can repeat the feat in Manchester.
Tip 2: Luke Littler Match & Most 180s Combination @ 6/5
Michael Smith vs Luke Humphries
League leader Humphries arrives in Manchester on top of the world after a simply dazzling weekend in Munich where he won the German Grand Prix.
Four of his five matches produced averages over 106.9 culminating in a barely believable 8-1 demolition of Van Gerwen in the final in which he averaged 112.66.
He says only Van Gerwen or Littler can beat him at the moment - which should make him a good thing against Michael Smith. After all, they have met three times over the last four Thursdays and Cool Hand has won the lot.
Humphries is plenty short enough so again, look at the combination.
Tip 3: Luke Humphries Match & Most 180s Combination @ 5/4
Gerwyn Price vs Peter Wright
The bottom two meet in the final quarter-final of the night and, of the two, Gerwyn Price looks the more consistent.
He certainly popped in some big numbers at the German Grand Prix which featured a 6-4 win over Snakebite in round two.
Wright’s performances are getting better and if Gezzy’s on form it could be a decent match, in which case the Scot can get carried to an average over 94.5, the sort of number he could have cleared with his eyes closed back in the day.
Tip 4: Peter Wright Over 94.5 average @ 10/11
To win Night 10
The Big Three - Humphries, Littler and Van Gerwen - are threatening to turn this Premier League into a procession.
Certainly Humphries is playing every bit as well, maybe better, than he was at the turn of the year when he was crowned world champion.
He might look on the short side but after his fireworks in Germany over the weekend, just go with the obvious.