Premier League Darts heads to Newcastle on Thursday for the final night of regular fixtures before the play-offs.
Sixteen weeks of fierce competition culminates at the Utilita Arena on Tyneside as the line-up next month’s play-offs is set to be finalised.
Three of the four semi-finalists are already confirmed, leaving two players to contest a straight shoot-out for the last available spot.
Joe Cullen and Peter Wright go into the evening locked level on 22 points and face off in the Quarter-Finals, with the winner securing a place in the play-offs in Berlin.
Debutant Cullen claimed his second weekly title of the season at The O2 in London last time out to leapfrog Wright into fourth spot, meaning he will have the advantage of throwing first.
Cullen had not been inside the top four since Night Eight but looks to have timed his run to perfection and now has destiny in his own hands as he bids to reach Finals Night at the first time of asking.
Wright suffered a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Cullen in last week’s Semi-Finals but enjoyed a timely return to form with a new setup at the European Darts Grand Prix over the weekend – reaching the Semi-Finals with a high average of 111 along the way.
Wright, whose only weekly title came on the opening night in Cardiff in February, is vying to reach the play-offs for the third time in nine Premier League campaigns, having notably finished runner-up in 2017.
Elsewhere, reigning champion and league leader Jonny Clayton looks to head to Berlin on a high by challenging for his fifth weekly title of the season.
Clayton is already assured of top spot and has reached the final in four of his last five Premier League outings to move six points clear of nearest challenger Michael van Gerwen.
The Ferret kicks off the night’s action with a clash against two-time champion Gary Anderson – who is rooted to the foot of the table and playing for pride and bonus prize money.
Anderson has managed only five wins in 18 matches in this year’s Premier League, with three of those coming on Night Six in Nottingham when he picked up the title.
Five-time champion Van Gerwen is guaranteed to finish in second regardless of Thursday’s outcomes but will look to end in style by clinching his fourth title of the campaign.
Van Gerwen has finished runner-up in three of the last five weeks and starts the night in Newcastle against a familiar opponent in Michael Smith.
The pair have met in the last three consecutive Premier League nights and six times in this year’s event in total, with Van Gerwen having won five in a row before Smith finally stopped the rot in London last time out.
Van Gerwen had battled back from 5-2 down to force a decider, but only to miss three match darts and hand Smith the points.
However, a Semi-Final defeat to Clayton ended Smith’s hopes of reaching the play-offs, but he will be determined to bow out in style by becoming the eighth player to win a weekly title.
James Wade has done enough to secure a place on Finals Night for the seventh time, and the 2009 champion will look to hold down third position by overcoming the eliminated Gerwyn Price.
Wade is three points ahead of Cullen and Wright, but the winner of that show-down could potentially move above the left-hander.
Wade returned to action in London last week after missing Night 14 through illness and will be eyeing a marked improvement on his match average of just 80.7.
The last meeting between Wade and Price saw ‘The Machine’ register a personal record average of 114.73 in a 6-1 demolition in Dublin en route to taking the title.
Price will miss out on the play-offs for the fourth time in as many Premier League appearances but could finish as high as fifth if he were to win Night 16 and Wright fails to pick up points.
Night 16 of Premier League Darts gets under way from 7pm BST in Newcastle, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
WATCH PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS NIGHT 16 STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
Thursday May 26
Quarter-Finals
7.15pm Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson
7.45pm Joe Cullen v Peter Wright
8.15pm Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith
8.45pm James Wade v Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
9.15pm Clayton/Anderson v Cullen/Wright
9.45pm Van Gerwen/Smith v Wade/Price
10.15pm Final
| Player | Week 16 Winner | Outright winner |
|---|---|---|
| Jonny Clayton | 11/4 | 21/10 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 3/1 | 7/4 |
| Gerwyn Price | 5/1 | N/A |
| Peter Wright | 5/1 | 11/2 |
| Joe Cullen | 9/1 | 8/1 |
| Michael Smith | 9/1 | N/A |
| James Wade | 9/1 | 9/2 |
| Gary Anderson | 20/1 | N/A |
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