Michael Smith v James Wade
Night 15 is upon us and it is crunch time for the likes of Wade, Gurney, Price and Suljovic. The next two weeks could define their season, or dent their confidence enough to see them have doubt in coming challenges.
As Michael Smith comes to The FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield, he knows more about his season than he did a week back in Manchester. Not only is he out of the running for the playoff places, but he has lost his top 16 provisional seeding for big European tournaments too, which puts him back behind the elite in non-televised tournaments. It has been a run of small misses, confidence lapses and frustration for Bully Boy in 2019 and this PL has been a huge learning curve for him to see how he works after being in a world championship final. From here on in for 2019 there may be less pressure on him and he has every capability of bouncing back to form, but he MUST forget what has gone wrong and move on with positivity. His first chance to spoil peoples chances is against Wade, and the records don’t tell a very good story. His head to head stats with Wade are abysmal and there is no reason why this won’t continue in the steel city.
Wade is continually playing well and a fractious encounter with Price in Manchester yielded two massive points for him. Whatever was going on with those two on stage is still a bit of a mystery, but since then they have played again and Wade got another win. He also managed to best Mensur Suljovic in Austria at the weekends event which says to me that he is ready to play smart and do what is necessary to get the job done, even if it is against someone he has bother with. He doesn’t seem distracted at this vital point of the season, and his experience is telling.
In this case against Smith, you have to back Wade because if his mental edge on Michael, his current form and his position in the league.
Wade for the win: EVENS
Mensur Suljovic v Rob Cross
Suljovic dug deep in Manchester to beat Peter Wright. A lot of people fancied Snakebite to get something from that game, me included, but he left his challenge too late and allowed Mensur too much breathing room.
Those two points now have the Austrian in the top four, and he can stay there but only if he plays well on Thursday and next week too. He plays the top two in the league in Sheffield and Leeds respectively and that is the worst possible run in, and his place at The O2 is in major jeopardy because of that factor.
Cross showed signs of fatigue at the weekend in Austria and didn’t threaten the latter stages, but he was unbelievable against Michael Smith a week ago. To finish the last three legs in 33 darts and inflict a huge defeat on Bully Boy was a major boost to him winning the league phase, especially when MVG was beaten by Daryl Gurney again.
As far as calling this game, it's plain to me that Cross is way more settled playing this format in front of these crowds. His averages don't lie, his doubling doesn’t tattle tale and he looks to be having fun, whereas it’s all hard work for Mensur.
I think the pressure of these next two weeks and who he is playing will be the telling factor, and that’s why I am going for a Cross win to put Suljovic’s top four spot under the hammer.
There are no guarantees in darts, but I can see Cross really performing here and making some inroads into MVG’s lead in the leg difference column. He may not need it, as he is in pole position, but you never know what could transpire.
Cross for the win: 41/50
Daryl Gurney – the true Kingslayer!
A third win in succession over Michael van Gerwen for the Northern Irishman and he is into the Play-Off spots!#Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/RZM5WnSTgW
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 2, 2019
Daryl Gurney v Gerwyn Price
Both of these players are gunning for Mensur Suljovic’s top four place as it stands and they would love it if he is beaten by Cross. And no, I didn’t just quote Kevin Keegan.
The outcome of the previous match does have a huge bearing on this one, but ultimately it's all about who hits the ground running. Both darters had good runs in the last ranked event but I am trying to look past the darts and into the eyes of the competitors to see what could affect their chances.
Gurney is tired. He is physically and mentally scrapping just now and you have to give him a stack of credit after how he has battled his way back into this race. He was all but dead and buried but a second PL win of the season against MVG will do your confidence and league place loads of good at this stage. Whether there was a breeze on stage or not in Manchester, it doesn’t matter. Both players got on with things and the best player won.
We have already touched on Prices loss to Wade last week, but I still think that Gezzy has a lot in the tank, and his ability to not get swept up in the practice room banter and psychological mind games may be his best friend this week and next. If he can start this game with an accurate first dart and get his hands dirty early, he could make Daryl feel under pressure and very uncomfortable in this game, and I feel that’s what he needs to do. He has to play a loud, boisterous contest, because if he tries to slow people down again it won’t work for his own abilities.
I think Superchin has been phenomenal this season, but I just feel Gezzy might have this one on energy levels and he is ready to strike. It's not easy for me to say that because this game is going to go all the way to the last dart potentially.
Gezzy to win 8-6: 6/1
Imagine not appreciating just how bloody good this bloke is…
MvG will be looking to return to the top of the table!#Darts #LoveTheDarts #Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/tACCmq1J66
— On The Oche (@OTODarts) May 2, 2019
Michael Van Gerwen v Peter Wright
An up and down week for MVG started when he had a very side to side night in Manchester, feeling that the playing conditions were hampered with a venue draft, but you have to hand it to the world number one. He handled it with class and tried his best to get on with it, but ultimately the price he paid was large. He is now in the number 2 slot in the standings and he is very uncomfortable with that. His streak of always winning the league phase is now in serious danger, and he needs mistakes from Cross, mistakes that may not come.
Mighty Mike picked up yet another big euro tour title at the weekend, and a very nice Austrian green jacket too, but the Tiger Woods of darts needs to focus on his old adversary and nothing else come Sheffield. His predicament for top spot in the league will be known after game two, and he can return there if Cross doesn’t beat Mensur.
He should get two points against Peter because of one word, and that’s consistency. Even though Peter is starting to figure some stuff out with his darts and game, I still can’t see enough from Snakey to take points away from MVG. It was an inconsistency that we saw from Peter in Manchester, and inconsistency that we saw from him in the Austrian Darts Open too. He was funnily enough beaten in the quarterfinals there by Van Gerwen. It was only 6-5 but the manner of that game really showed us the way. Michael only averaged 90 for that match, and in his own words, “If Peter can’t beat me when I play like that, he never will.”
I have to agree on that point for this match and can see Michael keeping up the pressure on Voltage for the top spot.
MVG to win: 7/25
UniBets of the night
1 – Wade to be king of the oche. a very attractive price of 13/2 for someone who has been sneaky good at 180’s, wins and big outs this year.
2 – 23/20 for this game to go to the last leg. I think this is very likely considering the position they are in. There will be misses, nerves and tension.
3 – 28/1 for MVG to get a 9-darter. Good odds, he will be in the right mindset and he's due. He hasn’t had one for 6 weeks. And yes, there is a slight rolling of the eyes as I type!
