Week One Premier League Darts Comes Live From Belfast
Darts 2023 Cazoo Premier League begins on Thursday. Week one action, broadcast live on Sky Sports, comes from SSE Arena in Belfast. In it, fans will be entertained by a mouthwatering showdown between Michael Smith and reigning Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen.
Peter Wright is strongly fancied to produce more 180s than Chris Dobey (pictured) in their Premier League clash on Thursday. @Mikal Schlosser/PDC
The face-off is a repeat of the World Championship final and the pair’s first meeting since their Alexandra Palace epic on January 3. That match – won seven-sets-to-four by Smith – saw the 32-year-old land a history-making nine-darter en route to clinching his maiden World Championship title.
The Premier League Format and Players
This year’s Premier League competition will see eight of the sport’s top stars contesting 16 mini-events during the season. Each league night – comprising of quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final – will be played over the best of 11 legs.
Of the remaining six contestants, two-time world champion Peter Wright will play newly crowned Masters champion Chris Dobey on night one. Dimitri Van den Bergh marks his Premier League return with a clash against 2021 champion Jonny Clayton.
And 2020 Premier League runner-up Nathan Aspinall has drawn Gerwyn Price in Northern Ireland’s capital. Price famously landed two nine-dart legs and also recorded a 170 checkout during a remarkable Premier League fixture in Belfast last year.
All Leagues Lead to London
Each Premier League night will give players the opportunity to collect league points. Mini-competition winners will receive five points and a £10,000 prize. The beaten finalists will collect three points and the losing semi-finalists two points.
At the end of the 16-week league table, the top four players in the standings will progress to the Play-Offs at The O2 in London on Thursday, May 25. The eventual winner will collect a £275,000 share of a £1 million prize pool.
Last year’s table-topper was Jonny Clayton. The Welshman collected 40 points by virtue of four wins, four finals, four semi-final defeats, and four first-round defeats. However, the 2021 World Grand Prix winner was eliminated 10-4 by Joe Cullen in the semi-final of Play-Off night.
Using prices available at the leading darts betting sites, below is our idea of the best betting value in Thursday’s opening Premier League matches.
Dimitri Van den Bergh versus Jonny Clayton
At 48, Clayton is 20 years older than his Belgian rival. That counts for little, but Van den Berg is climbing the ranks while Clayton, who peaked in 2021, is heading in the opposite direction. Vitally Van den Berg eliminated Clayton from the World Championships on New Year’s Day. He also knocked him out of the World Grand Prix at the start of October.
However, it is Clayton that bet365 and other sportsbooks favor. Winning just three of this pair’s eleven encounters since December 2018, surely the firm’s odds compilers have got their sums wrong. Our advice: Take the 11/10 about a Van den Berg in the win market.
Michael Smith versus Michael van Gerwen
Like so many players, Smith used to crumble when playing MVG. In a sequence of five 2022 Premier League matches, ‘Bully Boy’ could not beat his rival once. But he found his feet towards the end of the competition winning his last two matches against the Dutchman.
Two more successes followed – in June’s US Masters and the unforgettable 2023 World Championship final. Can Smith now extend his winning sequence over his old foe to five? That is uncertain, but the match has the makings of a classic that could go down to the final leg.
This match featuring over 9.5 legs – which means a 6-5 or 6-4 winning scoreline for either player – is available on 5/6 with the best odds bookmakers. That proposition looks like one of the better bets on the night.
Nathan Aspinall versus Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price is not playing at his best. Furthermore, his record in the Premier League is dreadful. In 2018 he went through the competition without winning a single match. In three subsequent attempts, Price has never made the Play-Offs, finishing fifth twice and seventh.
The last time we were in Belfast… magic happened 🪄
Gerwyn Price landed TWO nine-darters as he raced to the title on Night Three 🙌 pic.twitter.com/xyMNbsC8ML
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 30, 2023
The Welshman has lost his last two showdowns against Aspinall – notably in the semi-final of the World Grand Prix in October – and has won just three of their previous nine meetings. That said, Aspinall arrives here on the back of two major disappointments – most recently a first-round defeat to Stephen Bunting in the Masters. Following a fine run of form in the autumn, is his confidence waning?
In a difficult match to call – despite Price being heavily favored at 8/15 – the advice is to go low on the highest match checkout line. It has been set at 113.5, and 5/6 is available about higher or lower.
Peter Wright versus Chris Dobey
Chris Dobey, who had never reached a major televised final before last weekend, must be walking on air. The 2023 Masters trophy now resides on his mantlepiece, and the world-ranked number 21 player has a place in the Premier League.
This upswing in fortunes could see Dobey outplay his 7/4 match odds and, at the very least, push two-time world champion Peter Wright close. But can he hold a candle to Wright in the 180s department? It has to be considered very doubtful.
Dobey had to win five consecutive matches to land the Masters last weekend. He did that with a fine 95-average across all games. However, in none of these five matches did he claim the distinction of scoring most match 180s. Suffice it to say, the bookies even money about Wright claiming the most match maximums looks rock solid stuff.
