Premier League Darts 2024
Week 9 Preview by Shane McArdle
The Premier League season continues this week, Thursday (March 28th), with the action coming from The SSE Arena in Belfast.
The tournament sees eight of the top darting stars contest across a 16-week mini-event format over the season, with each league night comprising of a quarter-final, semi-final, and final format, all of which will be played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).
Each week’s winner will receive a £10,000 bonus.
Ranking points will also be awarded each night, with five going to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the losing semi-finalists, to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to the Play-Offs at The O2 in London on Thursday May 23.
The action will be broadcast live on Sky Sports from 7pm on Thursday.
Quarter-Final Match Betting and Predictions:
Thursday, March 28th
(Prices correct as of 5pm on March 25th)
(7:15pm) 6/10 Luke Humphries v Luke Littler 5/4 (Prediction – Luke Humphries, It’s another mouthwatering clash between the two Luke’s and it’s impossible to go against the current World No.1 Luke Humphries, who again dominated in Dublin on Thursday last, making it three nightly victories on the bounce. Should he win the overall night in Belfast this week, he will become the first player ever to win four successive nights in the Premier league. He enjoyed wins over Peter Wright (6-1), Nathan Aspinall (6-4) and Michael Smith (6-2) on his way to victory, whereas Luke Littler was beaten 6-4 in his opening quarter-final match by eventual runner-up Michael Smith.) Correct Score Prediction – 6-4
(8pm) 5/4 Michael Smith v Michael van Gerwen 6/10 (Prediction – Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith was a beaten finalist in Dublin last Thursday, Bullyboy enjoyed wins over Luke Littler (6-4) and Gerwyn Price (6-5) before losing the final to a top-notch performance by Luke Humphries. MVG was narrowly beaten in a last-leg decider in his opening quarter-final to Gerwyn Price, but not for the first week was beaten although playing to a very high standard. This should be a great battle and I expect MVG to get back to winning ways this week.) Correct Score Prediction – 4-6
(8:45pm) 13/10 Nathan Aspinall v Gerwyn Price 6/10 (Prediction – Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall continues in good form and played well to beat Rob Cross in a last-leg decider in Dublin before losing a cracking semi-final to eventual winner Luke Humphries. Gerwyn Price enjoyed a last-leg win over Michael van Gerwen in a high-quality contest before losing narrowly (5-6) to Michael Smith in another top-notch semi-final contest. In what promises to be a closely fought encounter, a narrow win for Gerwyn Price is how I see this one panning out in Belfast.) Correct Score Prediction – 5-6
(9:30pm) 2/5 Rob Cross v Peter Wright 9/5 (Prediction – Rob Cross, Both these players were beaten in their opening quarter-final matches in Dublin last week. Peter Wright’s poor form continued as he was comprehensively beaten (6-1) by the eventual nightly winner Luke Humphries. Rob Cross was also beaten in his opening game in the Emerald Isle, however he played to a much higher standard than his opponent here, with Cross losing a tense last-leg decider to an in-form Nathan Aspinall, with a few uncharacteristic missed doubles at crucial stages probably costing Cross the win. Therefore it is hard to envisage anything other than a win for Rob Cross in this quarter-final match in Belfast this week.) Correct Score Prediction – 6-3
Week 9 Nightly Winner (Belfast) Prediction: Gerwyn Price @ 6/1
Tournament Outright Betting:
Luke Humphries 6/4 – Luke Littler 33/10 – Michael van Gerwen 33/10 – Michael Smith 8/1 – Nathan Aspinall 11/1 – Gerwyn Price 16/1 – Rob Cross 18/1 Peter Wright 100/1