Football’s Premier League had plenty of top-four drama on the final day of the season and things are hotting up in the race for Premier League Darts’ top-four positions too.
Just a point separates Jose de Sousa, Jonny Clayton and Dimitri van den Bergh and De Sousa and Clayton clash on night 14.
𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
Nathan Aspinall sits top of the pile on Night 13 as the top four gets even tighter!
Wins for De Sousa and Clayton lift them above Van den Bergh and into the Play-Off places! pic.twitter.com/tAImeHH1sh
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 24, 2021
‘The Special One’ put in an extremely strong performance to beat Van den Bergh 8-6 on Monday and the Portuguese thrower averaged 1001.19 along the way. That came after an 8-1 crushing of Peter Wright earlier this month and De Sousa looks to have grown into the event.
Clayton in Form but De Sousa the Value
Clayton beat Gary Anderson 8-1 on Monday and that’s an impressive victory. However, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ hit just one of his eight attempts at a double in that match and perhaps the scoreline flattered him a little.
There’s no doubt that the Welshman has been playing some good darts of late, but at the prices it could be worth siding with De Sousa, who looks decent value at 27/20 to win to cement his top-four position.
There are just three nights of Premier League Darts left, before we hit the play-offs at the end of the month and Michael van Gerwen isn’t yet assured of his place in the final quartet.
The ‘Green Machine’ has shown patches of his old brilliance, but he has been hampered by periods of inconsistency and it’s hard to want to back him at odds-on.
Anderson can Edge out MVG
‘MVG’ takes on Anderson on Tuesday and at 12/5 it could pay to side with the Scot.
Yes, Anderson was hammered 8-1 by Clayton, but he averaged 104 and it was just a clutch of missed doubles that cost him any chance in that contest.
Prior to that defeat, ‘The Flying Scotsman’ steamed past Van den Bergh, beating the ‘Dream Maker’ 8-4 and averaging 107.85. That impressive effort came on the back of a thundering victory against Peter Wright and there has been enough in those two performances to suggest Anderson can outrun his price.
Aspinall Expected to win Again
Table-topper Nathan Aspinall is in pole position and he takes on James Wade this evening. There’s no doubt that ‘The Asp’ is the most likely winner of this contest, but Wade isn’t shy at upsetting the odds.
Aspinall’s 8-3 win over ‘MVG’ on Monday grabbed the headlines, but he was given plenty of opportunities by the Dutchman but he shouldn’t have too many problems in the clash against ‘The Machine’. He’s 11/10 to win.
Van den Bergh’s early promises has rather faded and the ‘DreamMaker’ now faces a battle to secure a top-four position. His Tuesday opponent Wright has struggled for much of the campaign, but there’s no doubting ‘Snakebite’s’ ability and he could easily bounce back to form.
The former world champion finds himself at the bottom of the eight-man table, but he is unlikely to throw in the towel and that makes it difficult to gauge what type of performance we will get from the Scot.
A draw at 19/5 may tempt some, but Wright to edge what’s predicted to be another close contest at 7/5 appeals.
*All odds correct at time of writing