Premier League Darts action comes from the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Thursday night as the race for the semi-finals hots up.
With just six points separating the top five in the table and only four spots up for grabs in the play-offs in London next month, the last four weeks of regular season action are going to be tense.
- Gerwyn Price to beat Luke Littler
- Michael Smith to beat Rob Cross
- Michael van Gerwen to win Week 13
Will The Nuke Be Spooked
Gerwyn Price doesn’t usually have the crowd behind him this side of the Welsh border, but self-proclaimed and well-publicised Manchester United nut Luke Littler is going to be the pantomime villain in Liverpool.
The Warrington teenager is a fans’ favourite wherever he goes but that popularity will be absent at the M&S Arena.
That won’t bother The Nuke who looks mature beyond his years, but Price is playing well enough to land generous odds regardless of how the audience behaves.
The International Open runner-up two weekends ago, The Iceman has probably left himself too much to do to qualify though beating Littler in their third Premier League showdown - the score stands at 1-1 so far - would give him hope.
GERWYN PRICE TO BEAT LUKE LITTLER
Cross Crisis Hands Bully Boy A Shot
Rob Cross is sinking without trace on his Premier League return and heads to Liverpool on the back of six straight first-hurdle falls.
He needs to stop the rot on Thursday to have any chance of a late dash for the semis but his form suggests that’s going to be beyond him.
He did reach the semis of the European Grand Prix on Sunday but his averages were up and down and it’s that lack of consistency which makes him vulnerable against Michael Smith, who is very much in the hunt for a last-four spot.
Smith has beaten the two Lukes - Littler and Humphries - over the past three Thursdays and reached the final in Rotterdam last week when he was touched off by Nathan Aspinall.
MICHAEL SMITH TO BEAT ROB CROSS
MVG To Repeat Week Three Heroics
The fixtures in Liverpool are a repeat of the schedule from Week 3 in Glasgow when Michael van Gerwen went on to claim the night’s honours.
He looked tired in Rotterdam last Thursday and looked to be trying too hard to delight his home fans, but he bounced back to reach the semis at the subsequent European Grand Prix in Germany.
The Green Machine gets the pick of the quarter-final ties - a showdown with the labouring Peter Wright - and he can use that as a springboard to a fourth nightly triumph.
Poor Wright is tailed off and looks like a player who just wants the torment to end. In Rotterdam a week ago he averaged an abject 77 in defeat to Aspinall and then turned up in Sindelfingen for the Grand Prix and lost to Mickey Mansell in round one.
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN TO WIN WEEK 13
