Premier League Darts heads to Aberdeen for Night 11 of the competition on Thursday as the battle for play-off places intensifies.
Seven of the eight players have tasted success in the new ‘weekly knock-out’ format so far, with James Wade becoming the latest new winner in Manchester last time out.
With just six nights of league fixtures remaining, only four points separate the top four players, while those below the cut off for Finals Night will be desperate to avoid becoming cut adrift.
Michael van Gerwen continues to lead the way at the top of the table, though the gap has been narrowed to just one point as the chasing pack close in.
The five-time champion suffered his fourth Quarter-Final defeat of the campaign last week, averaging 105 in a deciding leg thriller against Jonny Clayton.
Van Gerwen reached the Semi-Finals of the weekend’s European Tour event in Munich, but was sensationally whitewashed 7-0 by eventual champion Luke Humphries.
The world number three looks to return to winning ways at the expense of rival Gerwyn Price – who has won both of their previous meetings this season.
Price’s league position, however, is somewhat inferior, with the world number two languishing in sixth with 11 points to his name, seven adrift of the play-off places.
The Welshman has never made it to Finals Night, and having already missed one night of action due to injury, knows he can ill-afford to leave The P&J Live Arena empty-handed.
Price pulled out of the German Darts Grand Prix over the Easter Weekend with suspected tonsillitis, adding to his existing injury woes as he continues his recovery from a fractured bone in his throwing hand.
The opening match of the night sees defending champion Clayton up against Scottish hero and two-time champion Gary Anderson.
Clayton has reached at least the Semi-Final stage in his last four outings and has not slipped beneath third spot since the opening night of the competition.
The Ferret was a quarter-finalist in the recent German Darts Grand Prix and is out to silence a partisan Scottish crowd by extending Anderson’s winless run to five nights.
Anderson has fallen at the Quarter-Final hurdle in seven of his nine Premier League outings so far, leaving him rooted to the foot of the table and his play-off hopes hanging by a thread with an 11-point gap having already opened up.
He did, however, defeat Clayton 6-5 on his way to claiming the Night Six title in Nottingham a month ago.
World number one Peter Wright will look to delight the Aberdeen faithful by overcoming Masters Champion Joe Cullen in the second Quarter-Final.
Wright’s run of four consecutive Semi-Finals was brought to an end by Price in Manchester a week ago, leaving him fourth in the table on 18 points.
The two-time World Champion has been an ever-present inside the top four this season, notably winning Night One, and has vowed to stop tinkering with his darts and return to the setup which took him to victory at Ally Pally in January.
A solid start to life in the Premier League for Cullen has seen him pick up 15 points, notably winning Night Seven in Rotterdam, and was narrowly beaten in last week’s final by Wade in a deciding leg.
Cullen, who has hit more 180s than any other player in this year’s Premier League so far, will look to spoil the party north of the border by securing his second league win over ‘Snakebite’ this season.
Wade will be looking to continue his superb spell of consistency in recent weeks when he steps up to face two-time world finalist Michael Smith.
Wade has reached the final in each of his last three outings, and his triumph in Manchester has moved him into third spot – his highest position of the season so far.
The Machine has been the most efficient player on the outer ring with a 43.8 per cent finishing rate for the tournament, and will be out to avenge his defeat to Smith in the Semi-Finals of the World Championship.
Smith is facing a must-win situation in Aberdeen, having lost four consecutive Quarter-Finals since his run to successive finals on Nights Five and Six.
The 2018 Premier League finalist finds himself ten points adrift of the play-off places and is only player of this year’s line-up yet to clinch a £10,000 weekly winner’s bonus.
Night 11 of Premier League Darts gets under way from 7pm BST, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
WATCH PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS NIGHT 11 STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
Thursday April 21
Quarter-Finals
7.15pm Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson
7.45pm Peter Wright v Joe Cullen
8.15pm James Wade v Michael Smith
8.45pm Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen
Semi-Finals
9.15pm Clayton/Anderson v Wright/Cullen
9.45pm Wade/Smith v Price/Van Gerwen
10.15pm Final
| Player | Week 11 Winner | Outright winner |
|---|---|---|
| Jonny Clayton | 16/5 | 7/2 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 7/2 | 9/4 |
| Peter Wright | 4/1 | 7/2 |
| Gerwyn Price | 5/1 | 11/2 |
| Michael Smith | 8/1 | 16/1 |
| Joe Cullen | 9/1 | 10/1 |
| James Wade | 10/1 | 8/1 |
| Gary Anderson | 14/1 | 80/1 |
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