Luke Humphries has hit the top of the Premier League going into the halfway point of this year’s competition and the world champion and world No.1 is going to take some shifting as the field heads to Dublin.
Humphries, winner of each of the past two weeks, takes on bottom-placed Peter Wright in the opening quarter-final at the 3Arena.
Following them on to the stage are Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross before two blockbusters with Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price renewing their rivalry ahead of a showdown between Michael Smith and Luke Littler.
- Nathan Aspinall to beat Rob Cross
- Peter Wright Over 94.5 average v Michael van Gerwen
- Michael Smith +1.5 v Luke Littler
Asp To Bite Cross Once Again
Rob Cross must be getting sick of the sight of Nathan Aspinall as they prepare to clash for the fourth time in this year’s Premier League.
The Asp has won all three of their previous showdowns and take him to come through again and move into the semi-finals.
Aspinall beat Cross in weeks four and five and again last week, 6-4, in a match in which the victor averaged 102.64.
Voltage isn’t throwing badly at all but Aspinall has reached three of the last four Thursday night finals and knows he has a mental edge over Cross.
NATHAN ASPINALL TO BEAT ROB CROSS
Wright To Up His Numbers
No one is able to put the brakes on Luke Humphries of late and Cool Hand ought to have too much for Peter Wright in the opening game of the night in Dublin.
This is a repeat of a semi-final last week in Nottingham which Humphries won 6-1. He went on to beat Aspinall in the final, his second successive Thursday night triumph.
Humphries, who also beat Wright 6-4 in week two, is averaging almost 102 for the tournament, the only man over three figures.
Wright is, however, improving week on week and while he’s a hard man to fancy dislodging the league leader, it’s well worth betting him to average over 94.5. That’s well within his range - against Humphries last week he averaged 98.87, dragged along by the winner’s class.
PETER WRIGHT OVER 94.5 AVERAGE v LUKE HUMPHRIES
Bully Boy Can Give Littler A Fright
Luke Littler has been the most consistent performer in this, his first Premier League campaign.
The 17-year-old may not have won a weekly prize but he has only suffered one quarter-final loss so far, the fewest of the eight players.
That said, Michael Smith looks a big price to beat him and is certainly worth backing at odds-against on the handicap.
They have met three times so far in this competition and it’s Bully Boy who holds a 2-1 edge. Smith’s huge-scoring ability makes him a hard man to stop when he is in full flow and he can at the very least run the youngster close.
MICHAEL SMITH +1.5 v LUKE LITTLER
