Week 9 of the Unibet Premier League of Darts comes to us from Belfast, Ireland and is the last week before Judgement Night strikes next week to determine who will continue, and who will be relegated from the 2018 Premier League.
Once again we’ll be providing a more condensed version of our preview with a quick summary for each match and Week 9 betting tips at the bottom of the page.
We kick off the evening with Mensur Suljovic taking on Gary Anderson. After showing some good form in the middle stages of the season, the last two weeks have been pretty poor for Suljovic and he now finds himself on the edge of relegation in 8th place. Suljovic also has MVG the following week, so it’s looking a little grim for “The Gentle”. Meanwhile Gary Anderson is starting to warm up nicely this season and should push for a top four spot with a win here. Hard to see Anderson being troubled.
The other in relegation desperation is Gerwyn Price. He’s winless and at the bottom of the table, and it’s hard to see him being able to jump two players to survive. This week he’s up against Michael Smith who won’t be wanting to drop this one if he's to keep up pace with the top four. Smith would be a little disappointed to not push MVG further last week, and he’ll be looking to bounce back here. I think Smith should win this pretty easily.
The battle of Dutch legends Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld should be a cracker, with Barney bouncing back last week with a solid win. Barney does tend to lift in these big matches, so he shouldn’t be underestimated here, but MVG is a relentless beast who should get the win. As usual, not a lot of value around MVG matches, so will happily sit this one out.
Daryl Gurney will be looking for a big showing in front of his home crowd against World Champion Rob Cross. Gurney finally found a win last week against Suljovic to take some pressure of relegation talks, but he’ll still need to finish the next two weeks off strongly to stay alive. If he can bring his best, then he can push Cross, but it’s going to be tough. Cross was super impressive last week, and after dropping the first two games of the season, he’s been a force to be reckoned with. Gurney's wife is due to give birth at any moment, so thay may also be on his mind, so I like Cross to continue his momentum and get the win here.
The final match will see Australian Simon Whitlock take on Peter Wright. This is a really tricky match to call. Given Wright’s shocking recent Premier League form, and suspected shoulder injury, the price for Whitlock is tempting. However Wright was back to his best during the week in a European event, reaching the final where he pushed MVG all the way to the final leg. This is a must-win match for Wright if he’s going to escape relegation, so surely that’s motivation for him to fire up and bring his best here. I think it could go down to the wire.
2018 Premier League of Darts Week 9 Betting Tips
Gary Anderson Win + Most 180s vs Mensur Suljovic - $2.00 at Sportsbet
Michael Smith -2.5 games vs Gerwyn Price - $2.05 at Unibet
Rob Cross win + Highest Checkout - $2.50 at Sportsbet
Simon Whitlock vs Peter Wright over 10.5 legs - $1.63 at CrownBet
