Premier League Darts Night 15: Betting Odds & Prediction

(Featured image: Alamy Images)

Written by: Sam Oliphant

Premier League Darts returns once again this Thursday as the tournament traves to Leeds' First Direct Arena for Night 15.

Luke Littler claimed his fourth nightly win last week in Aberdeen as the teenager secured a 6-4 win over Rob Cross to cement his position at the top of the table.

Tournament Format

Eight of the best darts players face-off in a mini tournament with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final all taking place in one night. The Premier League takes place across 16 nights in total, with this week’s being the 15th. Each match will be played over the best of 11 legs.

Players will be rewarded with ranking points each night – five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the players who lose in the semi-finals. Points will be added up across the 16 weeks, with the top four players proceeding to the tournament play-offs in May.

Quarter-Final Lineup

Michael van Gerwen vs Gerwyn Price

Luke Littler vs Peter Wright

Luke Humphries vs Rob Cross

Nathan Aspinall vs Michael Smith

 

Michael van Gerwen vs Gerwyn Price

It is unknown at this point whether this match will even go ahead, as it has not been confirmed whether Gerwyn Price will feature following his withdrawal in Aberdeen last week due to a back injury. If Price does not recover, Van Gerwen will receive a bye into the semi-finals.

Van Gerwen could do with the bye following a dismal week 14 for the Dutchman. A 6-5 quarter-final exit to Rob Cross has left his place in the final four still uncertain, with fifth-placed Michael Smith beginning to close the gap on the three-time world champion.

If Price recovers from injury, he could cause problems for Van Gerwen, and has already beaten the Dutchman in this year's tournament when the pair met in Dublin two months ago. 

Luke Littler vs Peter Wright 

Littler comes into week 15 on the back of two consecutive night wins in Liverpool and Aberdeen. The teenage sensation has flexed his muscles at the top of the league, despite receiving mixed receptions from crowds in recent weeks. 

Littler finished off a flawless night with a victory over Rob Cross in the final (6-4) in Scotland. ‘The Nuke’ averaged 104.10 from the Oche, but his finishing wasn’t as relentless as his scoring. Littler had 25 chances to checkout in his quarter-final against Aspinall and only finshed six times, leaving him with a checkout percentage of 40.9%.

Meanwhile, Wright has endured a car-crash of a Premier League so far, with Wright only managing to make it to the semi-finals on two occasions so far. Last week's early exit to Michael Smith was expected, as Wright only averaged 92.81, and had a 40% checkout rate. It would be a major upset if Littler were to lose this one.

Luke Humphries vs Rob Cross

This match-up sees a repeat of last week’s first semi-final, which saw Rob Cross come out as 6-5 victor to progress to the final.

Cross gaied some crucial points as he looks for one last push for the top four. With arguably the most difficult route to the final in week 14, he navigated past second-placed Luke Humphries and four-night winner Michael van Gerwen before losing against Littler in the final. Cross averaged 99 from the oche, but it was his checkout percentage which helped the former world champion to the final, with 43.2% across the night.

Humphries, on the other hand, enjoyed a simpler route into the semi-final’s following a Bye due to Price’s injury. However, the reigning World Champion could not capitalise and bowed out at the hands of Cross in Scotland. He averaged just 94.87, far below what we have come to expect from Humphries this year. Humphries has already qualified for the play-offs in London later this month, though.

Nathan Aspinall vs Michael Smith 

The final match of the quarter-final’s is between Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall. Both players are looking to secure a place in the final four ahead of the play-offs later this month. 

An early exit against Littler meant Aspinall couldn’t add to his tally in the league to secure a place in the final four just yet. Losing a tight match 6-5, Aspinall only averaged just 92.06, but it was his finishing that kept him in the match. If he had managed to pull that average up, he may have found himself in a semi-final last week.

Smith on the other hand managed to secure a place in the semi’s after a 6-4 win over the struggling Peter Wright. However, he eventually fell to Luke Littler, who has only beaten Smith on two separate occasions across the 14 weeks played so far. Smith averaged 97.1 last week, not the worst but definitely not his best. Despite his convincing win over Wright, it was a humbling defeat against the teenager and saw Smith lose on a sour note.

Prediction

It is hard to see past another night win for Luke Littler this week as the teenager has been strutting his way to victories as of late. But don’t write off the likes of Aspinall or Humphries also making an impact with both players capable of stringing three wins together.

It is hard to see Wright making an impact this week, especially playing Luke Littler in the quarter-final, and it is hard to see Luke Humphries losing to Rob Cross in consecutive weeks.

OddsNow's Pick: Luke Littler to win Night 15 (6/4 @ BetVictor)

 

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