Premier League Darts - Night 9 Predictions
Premier League Darts Tips - Night 9 (Belfast)
Eight nights gone, eight more to go and world champion Luke Humphries is the man to catch as he heads for the SSE Arena in Belfast in search of a fourth straight Thursday night triumph.
Fellow Premier League debutant Luke Littler is standing in his way in the quarter-finals as the battle for the top four and qualification for the play-offs continues to intensify.
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler
Night 9 of the Premier League darts sees a repeat of the Night 1 fixtures in Cardiff where Littler put Humphries in his place with a stunning 6-2 victory.
Fast forward two months and the darting world has a very different look to it with Littler coming off the top of the wave he was riding and Humphries back to his Alexandra Palace-conquering best.
Humphries is now seven points clear and flying and he’s got that big-scoring power back, something that was missing in the early part of the campaign. He smashed in 14 180s in just 25 legs of darts last week and is well worth backing at 11/10 to hit more maximums than his teenage opponent.
Tip 1: Luke Humphries most 180s @ 11/10
Michael Smith vs Michael van Gerwen
While Humphries gets stronger and better week by week, it’s a different story in the MvG camp with the seven-time Premier League winner stuck on 15 points for the past four weeks.
It’s feast or famine for Van Gerwen, who has registered three wins and five first-hurdle flops in a mixed campaign where consistency is clearly missing.
And right now that means he may well be worth taking on, especially against Michael Smith, who thrived in defying the odds to beat Littler in the quarters in Dublin last week and would love to do something similar to the Dutch colossus.
Tip 2: Michael Smith to win @ 5/4
Nathan Aspinall vs Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price has won his last six showdowns with Nathan Aspinall, so is marked down as the favourite.
The league table, however, suggests The Asp might be worth a nibble at 5/4 given he sits in third place, six points clear of the Welshman.
Price looked competitive again in Dublin last week after some lacklustre efforts and clearly has a soft spot for playing Aspinall.
This promises to be tight, and if it is then the 180s should pile up. Gezzy hit ten in two games last week so bank on him landing the odds in a maximums match-bet.
Tip 3: Gerwyn Price most 180s @ Evens
Rob Cross vs Peter Wright
Peter Wright is bottom of the Premier League with just one match win to his name and even if he wins the nightly spoils in Belfast on Thursday and next week in Manchester he still wouldn’t break into the top four.
Not that he looks like doing either. First of all he needs to defy the formbook and beat Rob Cross and that looks a challenge in itself.
There are sufficient crumbs of improvement in Wright’s game to believe Voltage is too short and it’s quite possible this could get messy with the pressure on both men. Snakebite averaged under 84 when they met on Night 1 and it’s not easy to see him clearing 95.5 this time.