Wayne Mardle previews Premier League Darts in Sheffield
Written by News on 12/04/2018
Wayne Mardle has looked into his crystal ball to reveal the upcoming Premier League Darts results…
You can watch the arrows on Thursday from Sheffield, live on Sky Sports from 7pm.
Michael van Gerwen sits top of the pile with Michael Smith and Rob Cross in hot pursuit…
Raymond van Barneveld v Daryl Gurney
Barney really needs to not lose because that would be an absolute disaster. If he loses both on Thursday he will not make the play-offs.
He got on top against MVG but let him off, then lost a fight pretty quickly against Michael Smith which was concerning. We know Barney can beat Gurney – but Gurney is playing well.
Peter Wright v Gary Anderson
It’s been horrible for Wright but he is playing a lot better. He has let some decent positions go, then played poorly.
Gary has to watch himself, he looked out-of-sorts last week against Rob Cross. The table is getting congested and it’s difficult to say who the top four will be.
Gary needs to win, which would put Wright in a position where he’s just playing for pride.
Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock
Simon has done himself proud, hasn’t he? But playing against Van Gerwen is different to playing anybody else.
Mensur Suljovic was averaging 100 which is world class but he needed to play better to beat MVG. The same goes for Whitlock – he’ll have to reproduce the 106 average that he got on the first night.
Rob Cross v Michael Smith
They’re both picking up points. Rob had a big win last week against Anderson. Last week was also massive for Smith, beating Barney. Everything about that spoke volumes about Smith.
We’re now seeing the best of Smith. He’s played himself into form.
Cross wasn’t well at the weekend – he had a bug. Maybe he still isn’t 100 per cent but, I can assure you, Smith is playing the darts of his life.
Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Wright
I’m not normally one of those merchants who says: ‘Let’s see how they get on in their first match…’
Wright’s game is based on consistency but he’s lost an edge. If they both play very well, Wright can get him, but I don’t see that.
The 2018 Premier League heads to the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield on Thursday for week 10 with coverage underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix, which you can find on channel 287, and is free for all Sky customers. Five weeks of tungsten action will then continue through to the season’s conclusion with the Play-Offs on May 17 at The O2 in London.
Keep up to date with the latest darts news, previews, reports, reaction and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts– don’t forget to use #LoveTheDarts.
(c) Sky News 2018: Wayne Mardle previews Premier League Darts in Sheffield
