And then there were eight. Two stars of the 2021 Premier League field – Rob Cross and defending champion Glen Durrant – have been eliminated after the first half of the campaign, and now it gets serious.
Just eight players remain, only five points separate first from eighth, so it’s all to play for over the next three rounds of action this week from the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
By the end of this week, there will be four rounds of league action to go (May 24-27) before the top four square off in the playoffs on May 28.
The Asp Can Strike Against Snakebite
Nathan Aspinall goes into the 10th round of competition top of the table and it’ll be worth backing The Asp at 31/20 to beat Peter Wright and stay at the head of affairs.
Aspinall beat Wright 7-3 when they last met and any doubts about the former accountant from Stockport’s form coming into the Premier League has been allayed with a string of really strong showings.
Just behind him in second place is Dimitri van den Bergh and he gets to take on five-time Premier League winner Michael van Gerwen on Night 10.
Van Gerwen is the 23/20 favourite inevitably – layers rarely like to take on the Green Machine. Yet the reality is that MVG isn’t playing well, chalking up a number of early exits at last week’s Super Series to go with a series of indifferent efforts in this competition and, as it stands, Van den Bergh has to be the value at 17/10.
The Belgian’s confidence will be sky high after winning the fourth and final Super Series event in Germany, his knee isn’t troubling him after surgery and he boasts a consistency which his opponent simply isn’t matching right now.
Wade Into The Machine Against Clayton
James Wade, the late addition to this year’s field following Gerwyn Price’s withdrawal, has looked as solid as ever and goes into part two in fourth spot, impressive since he had only one point after three rounds.
The Machine has already taken the scalps of Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and new Masters champ Jonny Clayton, who he takes on in Night 10.
Clayton is the 11/10 favourite yet Wade, who drubbed the Welshmen 7-2 when they met previously, gets the nod at 9/5.
In the fourth game of the night, the 180 machine Jose de Sousa shackles Gary Anderson, once the king of the lipstick himself but not any more, in a game that could easily go the distance. And the distance now means 8-6 either way or 7-7 with the games in the second part of the Premier League up to 14 legs rather than 12.
Tartan Tear-up Tops Bill On Night 11
24 hours after Night 10 and the eight players will be back at the Marshall Arena to go again on Night 11, with World Cup team-mates Gary Anderson and Peter Wright crossing tungsten. Wright won 7-4 in their previous meeting.
Jonny Clayton versus Michael van Gerwen is the tie of the night. MvG will be favourite yet it’s worth bearing in mind that the Welshman has the Indian sign over Mighty Mike, having triumphed against him in all three meetings in 2021.
*All odds correct at time of writing