Premier League Darts 2023 | Night Three Glasgow Preview and Order of Play
Premier League Darts heads north of the border to Glasgow for Night Three on Thursday as the league table begins to take shape.
The third of 16 weekly knockouts sees the eight stars face off in pursuit of points towards the league table, as well as the £10,000 weekly winner’s bonus.
Gerwyn Price enjoyed a dream homecoming in Cardiff last week as he came through successive last-leg deciders before defeating Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the final to claim Night Two glory.
That victory meant Price becomes one of four players locked on five points in the early standings, and the 2021 World Champion will be keen to pick up from where he left off, having opted out of last weekend’s ProTour double header.
Price faces a box office battle with reigning World Champion Michael Smith in the stand-out Quarter-Final fixture at the OVO Hydro.
The pair recently met in the final of the inaugural Bahrain Masters last month, with Smith prevailing 8-6 to add to his televised title tally.
Smith also won three of their four meetings in last year’s Premier League, as well as in the Quarter-Finals of the UK Open – ending Price’s reign as world number one.
Smith, Premier League runner-up in 2018, was beaten by Michael van Gerwen on opening night in Belfast, before going down 6-4 to Aspinall in last week’s Semi-Finals.
The opening match of the night sees reigning and six-time Premier League champion Van Gerwen take on 2020 runner-up Aspinall.
Van Gerwen was narrowly denied glory on Night Two after being edged out 6-5 by Dobey in the final and a 110.7 average was incredibly not enough to avert defeat to Price by the same scoreline in last week’s Semis.
The world number three picked up three weekly titles last year before finishing second in the league table, and will be determined to better that tally and position this time around.
Aspinall, meanwhile, has made a strong start on his Premier League return, picking up five points courtesy of runs to the Semi-Finals in Belfast and final in Cardiff – which included a brace of 105 averages.
The pair notably met in last October’s World Grand Prix final, with MVG claiming a five sets to three win to secure the double-start title.
Jonny Clayton, the 2021 Premier League champion, aims to open his account for the new campaign when he faces Masters champion Dobey.
Clayton has suffered back-to-back Quarter-Final defeats so far and will be determined to bounce back from last week’s disappointment on home soil – averaging 89.4 in a 6-3 defeat to Smith.
Dobey backed up his fairy-tale Masters triumph by winning Night One on his full Premier League debut in Belfast, but was narrowly denied by Price in a deciding leg a week ago.
Clayton notably landed a nine-darter against Dobey in their most recent meeting at the 2020 UK Open and went on to clinch a 10-8 victory in the Last 16.
Two-time World Champion Peter Wright looks to register his first points of the campaign when he comes up against his former lockdown lodger Dimitri van den Bergh.
Wright, who picked up the Nordic Masters title last month, has suffered successive 6-3 defeats at the hands of Dobey and Aspinall to kick off his tenth consecutive Premier League stint.
Van den Bergh, making his Premier League return following a year’s absence, lost out to Van Gerwen in the Semi-Finals in Belfast, before being defeated by his Dutch nemesis again in his opener a week ago.
Van den Bergh recorded a thrilling 16-14 win over ‘Snakebite’ to reach the World Matchplay Semi-Finals last July, before the colourful Scot gained his revenge in the final of the German Darts Open and the Quarter-Finals of the World Grand Prix.
Night Three of 2023 Premier League Darts gets under way from 7pm GMT, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
WATCH PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS STREAMED LIVE HERE
18+ | Geo Restrictions Apply | Gamble Aware
Premier League Darts 2023 Night Three Schedule
Night Three – Thursday February 16
OVO Hydro, Glasgow
7pm-11pm
Quarter-Finals
Nathan Aspinall v Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
Jonny Clayton v Chris Dobey
Semi-Finals
Aspinall/Van Gerwen v Wright/Van den Bergh
Price/Smith v Clayton/Dobey
Final
LATEST DARTS FREE BET OFFERS (18+ | T&Cs apply | Gamble Aware)
