Gerwyn Price v James Wade
Both of these players will feel very settled into this Premier League campaign now and will want to kick on in week 3.
Gezzy was excellent with a vicious crowd last week and was also excellent on the dartboard. He took a huge lead over Raymond Van Barneveld but was unable to convert match darts and take the win, and had to settle for a point. He lost his rhythm a little towards the end of that match and left a point in Glasgow as a result.
Wade, on the other hand, was blitzed by a spectacular Rob Cross and couldn’t match the scoring power of Voltage. Wade didn’t get much in the way of chances in the second half of the game but early on he was piling the pressure on Cross with immense setup play. Wade won't be too disheartened by the loss as he played ok, but he knows a response is needed.
I place Wade as a marginal favourite here and if he can stick with Price early, he may sprint at the end more effectively. He closes out better than Gerwyn historically and that gives him the slight edge. However, this will be close, very close.
PETER WRIGHT ROARS IN GLASGOW #Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/PUMTNw2ku0
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 14, 2019
Steve Lennon v Peter Wright
In walks contender number three in the form of Steve Lennon, and what a talent the young, softly spoken Irish lad is. He has shown real progression in his young career thus far, and this season he has to keep delivering in order to become a more serious threat for titles. He will get a huge welcome from this massive arena in Dublin, and they will throw every dart with him on that PL stage. He has a tough act to follow after excellent showings from Dobey and Durrant from weeks one and two.
Wright was involved in another draw in Glasgow, his second in a row. He played some spirited stuff against Bully Boy there and probably should’ve tasted defeat, but somehow he ground out another point to double his tally. He does have the crowd in Glasgow to thank as they really did get involved on Michael Smith's throw during leg 10 that night.
Wright, true to form, has been tweaking his kit but is still playing at a high level, but the one difference this year has been his aggression level on stage. It is a higher intensity that he is bringing to 2019 and I really like to watch it.
Wright has to be a heavy favourite here even on away turf, and I think he may just stretch his legs and win comfortably by 3 or 4 legs.
MVG v Rob Cross
Match of the night by a furlong, no surprise really. The reason it is so is purely because of Rob Cross returning to form and almost coming out of hibernation. Last week, Cross played some indestructible stuff to suffocate Wade in the second half of the match. James had no answer to the relentless scoring and set up play that Cross brought and another 100+ average from Rob proves that he is once again very hard to beat.
Van Gerwen will be wary of Rob's form though and will be on point to deliver another victory to add to the 4 points he has already racked up in this years Unibet PL. MVG was good enough against Suljovic in Glasgow and did the job, but there looked like there was much more left in the tank. That proved to be the case as he racked up a record-breaking 71st ProTour title on Saturday in Wigan, and ANOTHER 9-darter. There was literally no stopping MVG that day and even though he was battered 6-1 by Nathan Aspinall (another PL contender to come in Nottingham) on Sunday, he will come into Ireland with his tail up and hungry to put Cross to the sword.
MVG wins this game for me, only just, and the averages will be high, very high.
MVG to clinch a thriller 7-5 pays 15/2
Loved being in Glasgow for the Unibet Premier League.
What a crowd, what a venue, what an atmosphere.
Thanks so much Scotland
Images by @taylorlanning11 pic.twitter.com/p4FTDqn7cL— Daryl Gurney (@Superchin180) February 16, 2019
Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney
Smith was left fuming after last week's game against Snakebite. He got out of the blocks really well but stalled in the middle and allowed the crowd to best him and steal away what looked like a surefire two points a third of the way through the game. He did, however, show that he is playing well still, and he will have to against an opponent that is loving the big Premier League stage once again.
Gurney was the MVP in Glasgow, no doubt about that. His scoring was excellent, but his doubles were like ridiculously rich chocolate, too hard to resist. 78% on doubles with two 121 finishes on double 14 in there were just incredibly timed. He showed Glen Durrant how to do things in the PDC and consequently Glen went and won his first PDC title on Sunday, so maybe it's all Daryl's fault that it happened!
I expect a lot of 180’s in this match and double figures is not out of the question, but the result could see only one point for both again here, something that both players have experienced already this season.
Mensur Suljovic v Raymond Van Barneveld
Barney is on last, and that isn’t encouraging for RVB fans. He doesn’t like playing late games and he won't against a late night specialist in Mensur.
Even though Mensur got nothing out of MVG last week, he won't be too perturbed, as he knows he is playing steadily, and that might be enough to steal points from Ray’s last PL campaign. Mensur has to show some spirit, grit and accuracy early here and if he does I believe he could win this one well.
Raymond looked down and out last week but somehow got a point from his game with Gerwyn Price. He was lucky to survive 4 match darts from the Welshman, but all the same, he looked like he was playing with no urgency or motivation. His walk on in Glasgow was perplexing as it felt more like a goodbye than the start of a big game. He has to up that intensity and do it soon or I feel he could be the one left behind the pack. If he does get the eye of the tiger going, he will cause problems for Mensur but for some reason, I think the curtain may already be falling, even at this early stage. I do hope I am wrong and that Ray comes out and wills his way into the race with the others because when he goes up there with intent, he is fabulous to behold.
On this occasion though, I see a Mensur win to get him in the jostle for playoff spots, and a win by 2 or 3 legs, with a very high checkout from him also.
Mensur – King of the Oche – Match Winner, Highest Checkout & Most 180s – 9/2
UniBets of the Night
1 – Wright to be King of the oche at 9/4 is a short price but very likely.
3 – Wade to win the match and have the highest checkout at 3/1 looks appealing.
A £10 treble on our Unibets of the Night returns £338. Bet Here!
