Premier League Darts Night Nine: Betting Odds & Prediction
(Featured image: Alamy Images)
The Premier League of Darts returns on Thursday with Night Nine of the tournament at Belfast’s SSE Arena.
Luke Humphries is looking to become the first ever player to win four consecutive nights in the Premier League. The world number one has topped the table for two consecutive weeks after following in the footsteps of Michael Van Gerwen to win three nights in a row.
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 eighth. Each match will be played over the best of eleven 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
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler
Michael Smith vs Michael van Gerwen
Nathan Aspinall vs Gerwyn Price
Rob Cross vs Peter Wright
Luke Humphries breezes past Smith for third win on the trot!
— Darts Now (@DartsNow_) March 21, 2024
Humphries is untouchable at the moment!
'Cool Hand' matches the record for consecutive nightly wins, averaging 105.53 in the final
He's now 7 points clear at the top of the table!
🧊Humphries 6-2 Smith🎯#PLDarts pic.twitter.com/YldvkLLFR0
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler
Humphries is a firm favourite to win the clash despite Luke Littler winning their previous two encounters in the Premier League. Four-time Major Winner Humphries has been in superb form and averaged over 105 in all his matches across Night Eight, dropping just seven legs in the process. Humphries is currently on a nine-match win streak in the Premier League having won the last three nights.
Bahrain Masters champion Littler dropped out of the top of four in the Premier League for the first time this year after suffering a 6-4 in defeat to Michael Smith in last week's quarter final. However, Littler has only lost twice this year at the quarter-final stage and holds the record for the tournament's highest average of 114.00 when he beat Michael van Gerwen 6-2 in Nottingham.
Michael Smith vs Michael van Gerwen
Both Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen are tied at 1-1 in their last two Premier League meetings. Fourth-placed Smith is a slight favourite heading into the clash, despite winning one game less than his opponent in the Premier Leaugt this year. Two-time major winner Smith won Night One in Cardiff and also reached last week’s final in Dublin. The 33-year-old also hit a nine-darter at the Players Championship earlier this year.
Three-time World champion Van Gerwen has failed to win a match in the Premier League since Night Four in Newcastle. For the first time in 12 years, 'MvG' has averaged below 95.00 in four successive games and will be desperate to end his poor results as of late. However, the Dutchman is in second place and stands as the only other player in the tournament to win three consecutive nights in the Premier League having won Night Two, Three and Four.
Nathan Aspinall vs Gerwyn Price
Third-placed Nathan Aspinall enters as favourite after reaching the semi-final of the Premier League four times out of the last five nights. The World Matchplay champion won Night Five when he beat Rob Cross 6-2 in the final at Exeter. “The Asp” has also reached the final of the tournament on three occasions.
World Cup of Darts champion Gerwyn Price recorded his first win since Night Three last week in a 6-5 victory over Van Gerwen. Price has beaten Aspinall 6-4 on Night One in their only game of the tournament. Despite “The iceman” reaching the final of Night One in his home nation of Cardiff, he has struggled for form which has left in seventh, having recorded only four wins in the entire tournament so far.
Dublin BELTING out Mr Brightside! 🎶
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) March 23, 2024
Nathan Aspinall certainly got the crowd going with this epic walk-on in Night 8 of the Premier League 🎯 pic.twitter.com/3mOcEdpK9o
Rob Cross vs Peter Wright
Sixth-placed Rob Cross remains unbeaten against Peter Wright in this year's Premier League, winning the only game they played 6-3 on Night One. Cross is a firm favourite heading into the encounter after reaching the semi-finals on five occasions. A 6-5 loss to Aspinall on Night Eight did see Cross lose consecutive quarter-finals for the first time in this year's tournament, though.
Predictions
Quarter-Final Picks:
Michael Smith to beat Michael van Gerwen (5/4 @ William Hill)
Nathan Aspinall to beat Gerwyn Price (13/10 @ Coral)
Humphries has been unstoppable lately as he looks to create history in becoming the first player to win four consecutive nights in the Premier League. OddsNow back 'Cool Hand' to achieve the feat with an historic victory in Belfast on Thursday.