Premier League Darts 2024 | Night 14 Aberdeen Preview and Order of Play
Premier League Darts heads to Aberdeen for Night 14 on Thursday with the remaining play-off places edging closer to being finalised.
Just three nights of knockout action remain before the top four in the league table progress to The O2 in London to compete for the overall title and £275,000 top prize.
Luke Littler is mathematically assured of a place in the play-offs in his debut campaign, while six of the seven players below him in the table are battling it out to join him.
Littler stormed to a third nightly title in the space of five weeks last time out when he triumphed in Liverpool to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 17-year-old sensation continued his remarkable year by scooping a second European Tour title at the Austrian Darts Open in Graz at the weekend and will look to maintain his blistering winning run at a sold-out P&J Live.
The World Championship finalist has his sights set on securing top spot and opens up against Nathan Aspinall in a repeat of their semi-final a week ago.
Littler hit back from 5-2 down and survived five match darts from ‘The Asp’ to snatch a thrilling deciding-leg victory, making it four wins from their five Premier League meetings so far this season.
Aspinall heads to Aberdeen occupying third spot on 25 points, five clear of Michael Smith in fifth and well-poised to make the play-offs for the third time in four attempts.
The World Matchplay champion has two weekly titles to his name and has picked up points in eight of the last ten nights, meaning he has remained in the top four since Night Seven.
Smith will hoping to apply some pressure on Aspinall, with whom he enjoyed a holiday in Las Vegas over the weekend, by overcoming rock bottom Peter Wright in the evening’s opener.
Smith has won both of the pair’s meetings this year and has finished runner-up in three nights since claiming the Night One title in Cardiff.
The 2023 World Champion was denied by Rob Cross in last week’s quarter-finals despite a 103.5 average and knows he can ill-afford another pointless haul in Aberdeen if he is to have any chance of mounting a late play-off push.
Wright is mathematically out of contention for a top four finish, having mustered just two match wins, and is bidding to avoid finishing bottom of the table for the second successive season.
The two-time World Champion is set to receive a rapturous reception on his return to Scotland and showed signs of improvement when he averaged 98.7 in a 6-3 defeat to Michael van Gerwen last week.
Reigning and seven-time Premier League champion Van Gerwen continues to hold down the final play-off place but is not yet assured of a return to The O2 despite picking up four weekly titles this term.
The world number two averaged just 90 in a 6-2 defeat to Cross in last week’s semi-finals and will be out to avenge that defeat when the duo collide again in Aberdeen.
Amid his four weekly titles, MVG has also suffered seven quarter-final exits and could find himself under severe pressure if he was to suffer an eighth here, with Smith only four points behind him.
Cross ended a run of six consecutive quarter-final defeats by finishing runner-up on Night 13 and giving himself a glimmer of hope of challenging for the play-offs.
Ten points adrift of MVG, ‘Voltage’ knows he must secure at least two weekly titles from the remaining three if he is to have any chance of reaching Finals Night for the first time since 2019.
Reigning World Champion Luke Humphries looks to cement his play-off spot and has been boosted by the late withdrawal of Gerwyn Price.
Price pulled out of the trip to Aberdeen due to an ongoing back problem, meaning Humphries receives a bye into the semi-finals and an automatic two points.
Humphries remains in second spot but has fallen five points adrift of Littler following a run of three quarter-final defeats and two semi-final exits from his last five outings.
The world number one, who reeled off a hat-trick of weekly titles midway through the campaign, continues to boast the only ton-plus tournament average and will be keen to return to winning ways at the business end of the competition.
Night 14 of 2024 Premier League Darts gets under way from 7pm BST, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Premier League Darts 2024 Night 14 Schedule
Thursday May 2
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright v Michael Smith
Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
Luke Humphries w/o v Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
Wright/Smith v Littler/Aspinall
Van Gerwen/Cross v Luke Humphries
Final
