Shane McArdle’s 2019 Premier League Darts Preview
2019 Premier League Darts
Week 3 – Thursday Feb 21, 3Arena, Dublin –
The 2019 Premier League season began on Thursday Feb 07th, with 17 nights of top-class action running from February to May. The season includes Judgement night after nine weeks of action, where the bottom two players in the league table will be eliminated and it all comes to a fascinating climax from The O2 in London on Thursday May 23rd.
The players taking part in this year’s Premier League are Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Rob Cross, James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld, Gerwyn Price, Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic. Gary Anderson has unfortunately withdrawn from the Premier League as he continues to struggle with a back injury.
The PDC have decided that nine different players will replace Gary Anderson at each of the nine different venues on each of the nine weeks of action.
The replacements are as follows – Chris Dobey (Newcastle, Week 1) – Glen Durrant (Glasgow, Week 2) – Steve Lennon (Dublin, Week 3) – Luke Humphries (Exeter, Week 4) – John Henderson (Aberdeen, Week 5) – Nathan Aspinall (Nottingham, Week 6) – Max Hopp (Berlin, Week 7) – Dimitri van den Bergh (Rotterdam Ahoy, Week 8, Night 1) – Jeffrey de Zwaan (Rotterdam Ahoy, Week 8, Night 2)
Week Two Results (Glasgow):
Peter Wright 6-6 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 7-4 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gerwyn Price
Daryl Gurney 7-3 Geln Durrant
Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Michael van Gerwen
Thursday Feb 21st
(7:15pm) Gerwyn Price v James Wade
Prediction – James Wade at 7/5
An interesting game to start proceedings in Dublin. Having been very impressive in both their opening league fixtures, both players were not up to the same standard on week two with Gerwyn Price throwing away a 5-2 lead to draw 6-6 with Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade losing a 2-0 lead to be beaten 7-4 by Rob Cross. I expect James Wade to bounce back to form and take the points in this opening match and get the always loud and jolly Dublin crowd rocking.
(8pm) Steve Lennon v Peter Wright
Prediction – Peter Wright at 40/85
A big night for Co. Carlow man Steve Lennon playing in-front of his home crowd who are sure to back him up and give him lots of boisterous support. Peter Wright battled back for a what looked like an unlikely draw last week against a furious Michael Smith. He’ll have to contend with both his opponent and the partisan crowd in this match. Snakebite will be used to dealing with this sort of thing and is confidently expected to be too good and claim the points in this game.
(8:40pm) Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
Prediction – Michael van Gerwen at 40/85
A battle of World Champions in what looks the game of the evening and both players come into this unbeaten. MVG has two wins from two and Rob Cross has scored a win and a draw. Rob Cross has been improving every week and will be a tough opponent for the World No.1. However a win to make it three wins from three and remain with a 100% league record is the likeliest outcome for Michael van Gerwen who will be very well supported by the Irish fans.
(9:20pm) Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney
Prediction – Michael Smith at 21/20
Michael Smith was furious after last week’s 6-6 draw with Peter Wright and also didn’t hold back when summing-up his thoughts on the crowd at the SSE Hydro venue. Meanwhile, Daryl Gurney was in super form with a very impressive 7-3 victory and 80% on the doubles against PDC new boy Glen Durrant who himself averaged just shy of 100 himself. Michael Smith will be pumped for this one is expected to get the win and the three points.
(10pm) Mensur Suljovic v Raymond van Barneveld
Prediction – Mensur Suljovic at 17/20
Both players come into this match with one point each, Mensur Suljovic drew 6-6 with home boy Chris Dobey in Newcastle before losing 7-3 to Michael van Gerwen in week two whilst Raymond van Barneveld lost to James Wade in week one before battling back from 5-2 down to draw 6-6 with Gerwyn Price in week two. This should be close but it’s a win for “The Gentle” Mensur Suljovic in this one for me.