Premier League Darts 2024 | Night Seven Nottingham Preview and Order of Play
Premier League Darts heads to Nottingham for Night Seven on Thursday as Michael van Gerwen looks to return to winning ways.
Reigning and seven-time champion Van Gerwen has never lost three consecutive Premier League matches in 11 previous campaigns and will be determined to maintain that record by denying man of the moment Luke Littler in this week’s quarter-finals.
Having claimed a hat-trick of weekly titles, MVG has since suffered four consecutive defeats in all competitions and without an average of over 95 for the first time in 12 years.
The Dutchman remains top of the league table but has seen his lead narrowed to just three points ahead of his trip to the Motorpoint Arena – where he was whitewashed 6-0 by Chris Dobey in last year’s semi-finals.
Van Gerwen, the second most decorated darter of all-time behind Phil Taylor, opens up against the sport’s hottest new talent Littler for what will be their fifth meeting of the year.
Since losing to the teenager in the final of the Bahrain Masters, MVG has won their three subsequent meetings, including the Night Two final in Berlin and Night Four semi-final in Newcastle – both in last-leg deciders.
Littler remains in search of his first weekly title but has crucially picked up points in five of the opening six nights to leave himself well-poised in third spot.
The World Championship finalist will be looking to pick up from where he left off in Wieze at the weekend, where he sensationally landed another nine-darter en route to claiming the Belgian Open title on his European Tour debut.
Littler registered ton-plus averages in five of his six matches en route to glory as well as breaking the record for the number of 180s hit in a Euro Tour event.
The winner of that contest will take on either Rob Cross or Nathan Aspinall – who face off in a repeat of the Night Five final.
Aspinall prevailed 6-2 on that occasion a fortnight ago to pick up his first weekly title but has since won just one of his next four matches in all competitions, including early exits in the UK Open and Belgian Open.
The World Matchplay champion averaged just 87 in a 6-3 defeat to Littler in last week’s quarter-finals and was beaten by the same scoreline by Richard Veenstra with an average of 88.3 at the weekend.
Cross, meanwhile, remains in a rich vein of form, having picked up points in all but one week so far and finished runner-up in the Belgian Open despite averaging 108 in the final.
The two most recent World Champions collide in the second quarter-final as Luke Humphries takes on Michael Smith in a repeat of last week’s final.
Humphries defeated Smith 6-3 in a high quality contest which saw both players average above 100 as the world number one secured his first weekly title to climb from sixth to second in the table.
Humphries, runner-up in the recent UK Open, boasts the only ton-plus average of the field (102.09), having remarkably averaged above 100 in ten of his 12 Premier League matches to date.
Smith, who triumphed on Night One in Cardiff, ended a run of three consecutive quarter-final defeats by reaching the final in Brighton to move within a point of the top four.
However, he was beaten 6-2 by home favourite Mike De Decker in the Second Round of the Belgian Open with an average of just 87.5.
The opening fixture of the evening sees former Premier League finalists Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price go head-to-head.
The bottom two in the table collide in what is already a must-win match for both if they are to uphold any aspirations of reaching the play-offs.
Wright went five weeks without a win last year but has now exceeded that drought in 2024, leaving him five points adrift at the foot of the table.
The reigning European Champion was left to rue two missed match darts against Smith last week but did enjoy a confidence-boosting win over a struggling Van Gerwen en route to the Last 16 of the Belgian Open – where he was beaten 6-4 by Jonny Clayton despite averaging 100.
Price, who finished runner-up on the opening night, has gone three weeks without a Premier League win but showed signs of a return to form over the weekend as he reached the semi-finals with wins over Gabriel Clemens, Gary Anderson and Stephen Bunting.
The world number five racked up four weekly titles on his way to finishing top of the table in 2023 and will be determined to stop the rot and kick-start his campaign in Nottingham – where he triumphed 12 months ago.
Night Seven of 2024 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 STREAMED LIVE HERE
18+ | Geo Restrictions Apply | Gamble Aware
Premier League Darts 2024 Night Seven Schedule
Thursday March 14
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries v Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Luke Littler
Rob Cross v Nathan Aspinall
Semi-Finals
Wright/Price v Humphries/Smith
Van Gerwen/Littler v Cross/Aspinall
Final
