Double Win For Chisnall As Barney’s Birthday Spoilt

In a remarkable return to form, Dave “Chizzy” Chisnall won both matches in his Darts Premier League double header in Belfast last week to move within two points of the top four.

Darts Premier League: as it happened

Just weeks ago, Chizzy was looking elimination in the face, a downturn further highlighted by the fact that he hadn’t recorded a win since Exeter’s week five, when he also won two in one evening.

All that was quickly forgotten on Thursday however as Chisnall saw off Stoke pair Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis and Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

Dave Chisnall vs Adrian Lewis

The 2015 Premier League semi-finalist began the night by seeing off “Jackpot” 7 legs to 3. Lewis, who last week hit a nine-dart finish, dropped the first three legs before he had even got started.

Winning three successive legs, Lewis looked set for a fourth straight victory before Chisnall landed a maximum to set up double 16 which he duly found. From then on, Chizzy dropped just one set to secure his first victory of the night.

Dave Chisnall vs Phil Taylor

Around 90 minutes later, Chizzy re-entered the arena to defeat Taylor in a match where he averaged 104 having raced into a 4-1 lead. After this, Taylor took just one more set as Chizzy saw out a very memorable night.

Phil Taylor vs Gary Anderson

It wasn’t all bad news for Taylor. Earlier, he had seen off Gary Anderson 7-4. Anderson is having a dip in form at the moment and here he let another result slip away, this time from a four-set lead.

At four down, however, “The Power” morphed back into prime Taylor mode as the old consistency returned; T20 was found time after time while Anderson, despite his imperious lead, was restricted to just one shot at the finish, a missed bull.

Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld

An all-Dutch clash also took place last Thursday as Michael van Gerwen proved he wasn’t in gift-giving mood to his opponent, birthday boy Raymond van Barneveld.

Barney, now 50 years old, was shot down 7-2 but remains in contention for a place in the upcoming London finals. Mighty Mike, however, sits atop the league by two points with a game in hand. An appearance at The O2 looks like a mere formality for the world number one.

Peter Wright vs James Wade

An apologetic Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright didn’t need to be at his best to beat James Wade.

A poor-quality match between the two played out to a 7-3 victory for the Scot, who further strengthened his grip on second place before saying sorry to the fans for the uninspiring darts show.

Birmingham Darts Betting Tips

Two the previous week’s losers open up the play this week at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham when James Wade and Adrian Lewis step up to the oche.

James Wade v Adrian Lewis

Wade, in eighth place, needs to make up four points on the top four places in order to throw himself back into contention for a finals spot. This looks increasingly unlikely.

Lewis also sits outside the qualification pool, albeit only by one point. “Jackpot”, possessing the better form currently, should take this opener.

Dave Chisnall v Michael van Gerwen

Despite a brilliant week last time out, Dave Chisnall comes up against the worst possible opponent to meet when attempting to put a run together: Michael van Gerwen. Despite two great Chizzy throws in Belfast, MVG will look to wrap up qualification early here and should win with ease.

SkyBet have provided another great match treble for this one: Michael van Gerwen to win the match, hit the outright highest checkout and score more 180s at 15/8.

Phil Taylor vs Peter Wright

Phil Taylor this week plays Peter “Snakebite” Wright. Since his dull win, Wright has enjoyed tournament success in the inaugural German Darts Open and so comes into this match with confidence further boosted by his second-place position in the table, a place he should solidify here.

Gary Anderson vs Raymond van Barneveld

Out-of-form Gary Anderson meets Raymond van Barneveld next and, while I will be putting my money on Barney, if Anderson can recover from whatever he is going through he should be the winner.

He is, for now at least, the world number two and double world champion and he needs to put some points together soon if he is to make London.

Adrian Lewis vs Michael van Gerwen

Finally, Adrian Lewis and Michael van Gerwen will come back out for a second appearance of the night and bring Matchday 13 to a close.

Lewis has found some form recently but lost last time out and it’s hard to see him getting one over Mighty Mike.

Darts betting tips: accumulators and outrights

This week’s accumulator: Lewis, MVG, Wright, Barney and MVG, which returns at a rate of 20.47/1 with tournament sponsors Betway.

It’s worth taking a look at the outright prices as the league stage has two weeks left to run.

With just four points separating the bottom-placed player and the top four, things are getting exciting.

You will have guessed already that MVG is odds on everywhere, but the best price available on Peter Wright is the 7/1 on offer with Bet365.

Despite falling behind in the table, Gary Anderson remains second-favourite in the betting and can be picked up for 6/1 with Betway.

At 16/1 with Bet365, Phil Taylor leads the outside pack.

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Adrian Lewis Storms It To Set Up Dramatic Darts Night

Backers of Adrian Lewis were rewarded on Thursday night as “Jackpot” rewound the clock and staged a magnificent performance against Dutch master Raymond van Barneveld, including a perfect nine-dart finish.

Darts Premier League Week 11: who won what

Let’s check out the action and see how our accumulators fared.

Adrian Lewis vs Raymond van Barneveld

Taking the match 7-4, Lewis raced into a 2-0 lead before Barney began his comeback – a comeback that was emphatically ended in the fourth set after the two-time world champion Lewis took out the leg with his nine-darter.

Lewis’s form remained with him, largely unchecked, before he fittingly put the game to bed by landing on the bull.

James Wade vs Phil Taylor

Elsewhere, James Wade came from behind to beat Phil “The Power” Taylor 7-5.

At various points in the match, Wade looked in serious trouble, finding himself down by two sets on separate occasions, but an unanswered run in the last four legs gave Wade the points.

Peter Wright vs Michael van Gerwen

Earlier in the evening, Peter “Snakebite” Wright had to surrender himself to a draw with Michael van Gerwen having led by 5-1.

An unusually flat performance from the world number one saw MVG drop an uncharacteristic double in not only the first first set (allowing Wright to take that) and the following three sets. Wright raced into a 4-0 lead and that shock scoreline obviously sparked MVG into action; the Dutchman, where most would be unable, grabbed himself a share of the spoils.

Dave Chisnall vs Gary Anderson

The night’s opener also played out to a tie, one in which Dave Chisnall fluffed his lines at the last minute despite having the points seemingly in the bag.

With seven attempts to close out the match, “Chizzy” lost the form that had put him in such a good position following a fight back from 5-3 down against the world number two. Gary Anderson was allowed back into a game he looked to have thrown away before hitting a double 10 and claiming the draw.

Gary Anderson vs Peter Wright

The opener seemingly gave Anderson fresh belief as he finished off the night by beating Peter Wright in an all-Scots closer. Anderson, who had saved a point, played Wright, who had blown all but one of his.

Both were clearly feeling the mental impact of their earlier exploits. Anderson, who landed six maximums and averaged 113.44, saw off Snakebite with relative ease  in a 7-2 victory.

Betway Premier League Darts Betting Tips

On Thursday, the players head to at Belfast’s SSE Arena for the twelfth week of Betway’s Premier League. Let’s look at some likely value as Dave Chisnall steps up for a double header, taking on the Stoke pair Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor in bookend matches.

Dave Chisnall vs Adrian Lewis

Just like Chisnall, Lewis has turned his league campaign around and sits sixth in the table, just one point off a playoff place. Amazingly, “Chizzy” can also still make the cut but will need to see off “Jackpot” and “The Power” to do so. He will certainly need to tighten up his double shots, too many of which have been dropped thus far and cost him plenty of momentum along the way.

Momentum, however, should not be a problem for “Jackpot” who has last week’s nine-darter to spur him on. Lewis to win then – and for some side action, this SkyBet treble at a tasty 9/2:

  • Lewis to win the match
  • Lewis to hit the outright highest checkout
  • Lewis to score more 180s than Chisnall

Gary Anderson vs Phil Taylor

Gary Anderson sits third in the table and needs to beat Phil “The Power” Taylor, something he does with increasing regularity these days.

While we would never rule The Power out, Anderson has to be favourite in the night’s second match. The Power is well capable of course; at 2/1, he is a decent shout to break throw first in the match with Bet365.

Peter Wright vs James Wade

Peter Wright and James Wade step up for the next match and while second-place “Snakebite” should claim the points here, his form has dipped alarmingly of late.

True, he nearly scored an incredible whitewash against the world number one last week, but his sloppy double shooting returned at the wrong time to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. If he can hold his nerve better here, then a Snakebite win looks a sound bet.

Michael van Gerwen vs Raymond van Barneveld

Everything goes Dutch for the night’s fourth match as MVG and RVB meet in what I suspect might just be a draw. Mighty Mike has proven himself to be human in recent months and nobody seems to have the measure of him quite like his fellow countryman, who should be happy enough to share a point this week and stay in the hunt.

Dave Chisnall vs Phil Taylor

“Chizzy” and “The Power” return at the end of night and, as ever, earlier evening exploits will likely impact the final match. If, as predicted, both have dropped points earlier in the night then this might boil down to a test of mentality from which the 16-time world champion will surely emerge on top.

Darts Accumulator Tip

This week’s acca: Lewis, Anderson, Wright, Draw, Taylor; 58.26/1 at Betway.

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Barney Feels The Power: Can Phil Taylor Make The Top Four?

Darts Premier League: Matchday 10 results

Phil Taylor vs Raymond van Barneveld

In a golden oldies’ play-off, Phil Taylor averaged just under 106 against an almost equally impressive Raymond van Barneveld. In the end, Taylor proved too much for Barney this time, running out the 7-3 winner.

Having put in one of his best performances of the season, “The Power” moved (momentarily) into third place. Barney, who threw an average of over 100, saw the end of a run of four straight wins.

Michael van Gerwen vs James Wade

Although he needed to work for it, the world number one beat James Wade in a classic match that went right down to the wire. Wade was unlucky to lose and almost claimed a draw.

Despite Wade averaging over 110, Mighty Mike’s class was available to him when he needed it to be.  In true MVG style, he was able to strike an average of over 113, landing a 138 checkout in the final leg to beat Wade 7-5 and remain the Premier League leader.

Peter Wright vs Dave Chisnall

A game just as thrilling, if not as matched for quality, was the 6-6 draw between Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall. Both averaged over 100 and yet neither really took control of the game in the way they would have hoped to.

For “Snakebite” especially, this will feel liked dropped points. “Chizzy”, who looked a lost player only weeks ago, will rue losing the last three legs of a game he looked set to win.

Raymond van Barneveld vs James Wade

An earlier defeat was quickly rectified by Raymond van Barneveld (who would move back up to third and overtake Taylor) following a second match of the evening in which he destroyed James Wade 7-2.

With RVB again averaging 100, Wade had little in the way of a response and simply couldn’t call on any of his unrewarded, brilliant form from earlier in the evening. He succumbed to a second Dutch defeat.

Adrian Lewis vs Gary Anderson

The biggest surprise of the night was served up when Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis as ran out a comfortable 7-3 winner against Gary Anderson, giving himself a decent – and surprising – shout for a top four finish.

World number two Anderson was in uncharacteristically poor form, missing 18 of his 21 double shots. He now sits level in the table with Lewis, who averaged a respectable 99.76.

Premier League Darts betting tips for Matchday 11

This Thursday the players return for the eleventh matchday of the League, this time with Liverpool playing host at the Echo Arena.

Gary Anderson vs Dave Chisnall

The first game of the night belongs to Gary Anderson and Dave Chisnall, with Anderson’s form and top four finish now under threat. Bet365 rate both players as 5/6 to be the first player in the match to break throw.

A rejuvenated “Chizzy” could throw a spanner in the works here, but if Anderson digs deep then the
“Flying Scotsman” should see the match out and claim all three points – vital given his all-star, all-Scots closer against Peter “Snakebite” Wright.

Peter Wright vs Michael van Gerwen/Gary Anderson

Wright himself faces a tough night playing the world number one Michael van Gerwen in his opener and number two Gary Anderson in his closer. I am expecting Snakebite to end the night pointless.

His form has dipped over the recent weeks, hitting high but missing the doubles, and it’s costing him dear. He can ill afford another winless night here, but I think Anderson (with points on the line) will be dangerous and we can’t expect Wright to best MVG.

Adrian Lewis vs Raymond van Barneveld

Adrian Lewis and Barney will also be meeting this week, with both enjoying wins last time out. It would be an upset, but I’m going for Lewis here.

Form has, for the most part, sided with the Dutchman in recent months but “Jackpot” has thrown his way back into contention, especially in light of his destruction of Gary Anderson a week ago.

Phil Taylor vs James Wade

Finally, Phil “The Power” Taylor and James “The Machine” Wade meet again following their draw in the earlier rounds – a result likely to repeat itself.

This match is also the provider of SkyBets Treble of the Day: Taylor to win the match, hit the outright highest checkout and score more 180s than Wade. That is worth 3/1, or (for the bravest amongst you), 14/1 in reverse.

Darts accumulator tip

This week’s recommended accumulator is: Anderson, MVG, Lewis, Draw, Anderson which awards 56.92 to the pound at tournament sponsors Betway.

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