Preview: Premier League Darts Night Nine – Manchester
Luke Littler will be hoping to pick up a third nightly win on the bounce as he returns to Manchester for the Premier League of Darts on Thursday night.
The Nuke has won three of the last four nights and now sits top of the table, two points ahead of Jonny Clayton after eight weeks of action.
Match 1: Michael van Gerwen vs Stephen Bunting
The night kicks off with the world #4 taking on the world #9.
Van Gerwen came from behind to see off the Bullet on his way to winning the night in Newcastle.
Despite losing the last two games, both against Littler, signs have been promising for the Bullet, who averaged just shy of 108 last week in Berlin.
The Green Machine picked up three points last week in Germany.
His win over Luke Humphries was the first time he’d won a game, since reaching the final in Antwerp.
My prediction: van Gerwen 4-6 Bunting
Match 2: Gerwyn Price vs Luke Humphries
Price faces Cool Hand in a repeat of the Dublin semi-final, where the Iceman smashed the world #2 6-1.
Humphries is yet to pick up a nightly win as he looks to defend the Premier League title.
Price has only lost one leg in his last two quarter-final ties against Josh Rock and Gian van Veen, after his tournament started with a flurry of last-leg deciders.
My prediction: Price 6-4 Humphries
Match 3: Gian van Veen vs Luke Littler
Littler faces no easy task on his homecoming with a repeat of the World Championship final.
The pair have met just once in the Premier League so far with the young Dutchman winning 6-4 on Tyneside in night one.
The Nuke did beat the Giant on the European Tour back in February with an 8-4 win, in a game that saw van Veen hit his first televised nine-darter.
My prediction: van Veen 2-6 Littler
Match 4: Jonny Clayton vs Josh Rock
In a repeat of last week’s opener, Jonny Clayton faces Josh Rock.
Rocky picked up his first points in Berlin with a 6-3 win over the Welsh #1.
Despite ending his duck, the world #7 still had troubles on the outer ring and spurned 13 darts at double in his semi-final defeat to van Gerwen.
The Ferret has won six out of eight of his quarter-finals but has suffered defeat in the last two.
My prediction: Clayton 6-4 Rock
