Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross
Even though Gezzy has now lost his unbeaten record in this years Premier League, he is still in a very strong position sitting at 5th in the standings. Last week in Nottingham, the cat was tossed to the pigeons as the league became a crazy race for the play-offs with 4 points separating the top 9.
Gerwyn will want a quick bounce-back but this is a very difficult game for him, as Rob Cross is showing his class in this event in 2019. Rob was imperious against Barney last week and there is not one expert who thinks he is showing signs of doing much wrong this year. At the weekend on the pro tour, he decided to go home early as he wasn’t feeling 100%, and that shows that he is prioritising this PL so he can once again make The O2. I, for one, have to say that he is making smarter choices this season and his form is glimmering because of those choices. He will be majorly dangerous in the next few months and could well do the job on the Welsh Grand Slam champ here.
Michael van Gerwen silences his doubters – eventually – with a 7-2 victory over the previously unbeaten Gerwyn Price.
This superb 132 checkout on the bullseye brought the match alive…pic.twitter.com/Mkw8xgDsRo
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) March 14, 2019
Neither player picked up a ranking title at the weekend so that makes this one tougher to call, so Rob Cross’s 7-1 smashing of Price in last years campaign has to be the separating factor. Cross is averaging more and being more consistent I feel, not to mention he is only just off top spot in the table by the skin of a rabbit's tooth, so he should win this.
Cross to win a close battle – 6/5
James Wade v Peter Wright
Even though it's not wise to back against Mensur Suljovic, I did so last week and had every faith that James Wade would get the job done against the Austrian, but Wade was beaten and beaten well. The form of James has been so good that last week has to be a minor blip, but its things like that which will see people not going to the play-offs. At which point do we say that the travelling and constant playing is taking its toll? Well, with both of these players, they know the schedule and the demands and they should be able to manage them.
Wright has been the epitome of a scrapper this year, and has shown a couple of great games to us all but even when he’s not playing his best he will still accumulate points. It's points that he squandered last week though after having the jump on Superchin, and he could not finish him off. He cannot afford to keep doing that, especially against players like Wade as he is known for his opportunistic nature.
Peter Wright 161 check! #darts @snakebitewright
( All credits to the PDC/ITV ✅ ) pic.twitter.com/wryrUPeF1W
— dartsnewschannel (@dartsnewschan1) March 16, 2019
Peter Wright and his alter-ego will be outrageously popular in Berlin, and Wade not so after denying German Max Hopp a European Championship Final spot back in October.
These players cannot be separated on points and I think that tells its own story, so a draw is entirely plausible unless someone has a horror start.
Michael Van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
I know I tipped Gezzy to run MVG close last week, but both combatants in that match will want the first few legs of that contest put in the cutting bin to never be seen again. It was Michael who took advantage of the slower start and eventually got the result which put him back on top of the league, but only by the slightest of margins. Maybe Michaels undefeated record against Gezzy was the telling factor, but now that he’s back on the winning track, he could well look down the table at Gurney and see a huge chance to get more points towards his league assault.
Gurney has had a much better 7 days. First, he rescues a point against Snakebite in Nottingham from a very tricky position and then he makes a ProTour final on Saturday, only to be squeezed out by a very in from Dave Chisnall. However, the first dart which has plagued Gurneys game in the past few weeks seems to be improving and now he looks like someone who is finding his range once more. He knows how to beat MVG in tight games, his recent major win in The Players Championship Finals was the first time he’d got him in 14 attempts though. Let’s not forget the revenge factor here and Michael will secretly want that badly.
A 132 checkout from Michael van Gerwen, followed by a little jig.
If MVG is dancing, you're in trouble! #Unibet180 https://t.co/CXUS7WHRji
— Unibet (@unibet) March 14, 2019
To reiterate my words from last week, its tough to back against MVG and this time I am not going to. I think he will want to play to a high level here and get his form ship shape for the start of the European Tour season which kicks off this weekend in Leverkusen.
If Gurney is in the same position as last week and finds himself 6-4 down, he will not be rescuing a point here, as Michael is too clinical.
The MVG machine to grind out another win – 1/4
Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic
Michael Smith has told the press in the last week that he doesn’t deserve more than 5 points in this PL because he isn’t playing well at all. He may be right about his form, as it isn’t ship shape but he is still in this race and any week now all he needs is a jolting blitz and he will be dancing up that table again. He did enough last week when UK Open champ Nathan Aspinall didn’t really turn up, but that result nonetheless will do Bully Boys confidence no harm come Germany.
Suljovic was much better a week ago and was cock a hoop with two points in Nottingham. He looked sharper and more focused and if he does that again in Berlin, he could well get another kick up that ladder come Thursday night.
James Wade was on top of the Premier League table, until he ran into @MensurSuljovic.
Watch the best throws from Suljovic's 7-3 win last week! #DartsBBCA #LoveTheDarts #PremierLeagueDarts pic.twitter.com/oQJul0BeNl
— Darts on BBC America (@DartsBBCA) March 19, 2019
Michael Smith only winning one game at the weekend in Wigan is not a form indicator for me, and neither is the lack of participation from Suljovic who is sitting out the majority of ProTour action during this PL, but Mensur will be majorly popular here and with his campaign looking brighter by the week he may be a favourite. The head to head record is very tight as well, so I have to lean towards Suljovic on this one as he will probably feel the sprightlier of the pair.
The Gentleman has a rougish glint in his eye – Suljovic to be king of the oche at 14/1
Max Hopp v Raymond Van Barneveld
Enter contender Max Hopp into Berlin. This will be an epic walk-out and Max is expected to deliver after two ProTour wins last year and deep runs in massive tournaments. He hasn’t played in every event in 2019 so far, and the ones he has participated in he hasn’t made a huge impact, but a last 32 at the UK Open says to me that he isn’t playing poorly and has a lot more gears to go through. Make no mistake, the pressure is firmly on Hopp and not on RVB who many think has already started the engines for his Premier League departure come Rotterdam.
Or has he? Let's face it, the run of Barneveld to a ProTour final on Sunday where he lost out to a winning again Adrian Lewis was a surprise. He got away with some match darts missed against him but there was no doubting his quality after that. Will that be the catalyst to him maybe starting engines in a direction that isn’t off the cliff of his career?!!
The crowd responding to Barney closing it out as a draw from 5-1 down!
He always earns his stripes. #Unibet180 #PremierLeagueDarts #BarneyArmy pic.twitter.com/Ztim12DSLR— Unibet (@unibet) February 21, 2019
This is a tricky game because even though Max will be hugely favoured by the crowd, Barney is no stranger to positive crowd participation from the folk in Deutschland.
I think Barney might take that cat I mentioned earlier which was having a soiree with some pigeons, name it and nurse it for the evening. He certainly has no excuse not to perform.
Back Barney to come good at 7/5
UniBets of the night
1 – Rob Cross to win and have highest checkout – 5/2 (Based on whats happened this season already that looks very favourable).
2 – Suljovic to be king of the oche at 14/1 seems like something you would have to back after last week.
3 – 6/1 for Barney or Hopp to win the match and both of them to hit 3 or more 180’s in the contest. With the adrenaline that will be involved in this match, thats entirely possible.
A £10 treble on our 'UniBets of the Night' returns £3675.00
