As we reach the business end of the 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts, competition could not be fiercer with six men still battling for three places to join Phil Taylor in the show’s finale at Wembley in May. Tonight sees the bandwagon roll into Aberdeen.
Ronnie Baxter v James Wade
These men currently hold pole position in the race for a top four finish but will no doubt be feeling the pressure of the cluster of players just behind them waiting to pounce should they fall short in any of the remaining three weeks. Despite going off at odds-on to finish bottom of the pile, Ronnie Baxter laid the groundwork for himself to occupy one of the qualifying spots during the middle sector of this competition but he now finds himself looking nervously over his shoulder after no win in three outings in the Premier League. ‘The Rocket’ opted to skip Saturday’s floor event in Wigan before exiting at the quarter final stage of Sunday’s event courtesy of a 6-1 defeat to Colin Osborne. His opponent tonight did not fare much better with defeats to Gary Anderson and Stuart Dutton ensuring that ‘The Machine’ played no part in the latter stages in either competition. It is however the latter's form on the Premier League stage that is catching the eye. A record of three consecutive defeats at the outset has been followed by just one defeat in eight with his last three averages reading 99.64, 100.51 & 100.28. Wade is a best price 1/2 to take the spoils here but is 9/10 to do so with a -2.5 handicap and given that he has covered that mark in each of his wins so far, we fancy the reigning champion to reward our followers.
Mervyn King v Phil Taylor
Mervyn King is probably just one win away from guaranteeing his place on finals night for a second consecutive season and punters can get 6/1 on him doing so in Aberdeen against the world number one. As much as the Sky pundits attempt to build this up as a grudge encounter, the two men have immense respect for each other’s game with Phil Taylor knowing that ‘The King’ most definitely has the game to beat him. King’s record against ‘The Power’ in the Premier League is impressive having only lost once in their four meetings to date however his recent form suggests that he may need to find a little bit extra before booking his place at Wembley. His average has topped 96 in just one of his previous six Premier League outings and he has now gone ten consecutive floor tournaments without advancing past the last 16 since his back-to-back tournament wins in Swindon in February. Taylor was involved in a humdinger with Australian Simon Whitlock last week with both players going like-for-like with the big scores and big finishes before Taylor finally emerged as an 8-5 victor with a bull, 25, bull finish enhancing his 103.62 average.
Raymond van Barneveld v Terry Jenkins
Followers of our Premier League Outright preview (http://www.puntinplay.com/story/2010-premier-league-darts) may form an orderly queue at the payout office with Raymond van Barneveld the first man confirmed as one of the four not to qualify for the play offs. The five times world champion has also willingly not qualified for June’s televised UK Open Finals – an event he has won twice in recent years – and serious question marks surround the Dutchman’s future in professional darts. His ’annus horribilis’ so far has included just two wins in eleven Premier League fixtures and he enters tonight’s clash with Terry Jenkins on the back of a five game losing streak. Jenkins himself has ended a run of six defeats in a row by claiming back-to-back victories over Adrian Lewis & Ronnie Baxter to give himself an outside chance of reaching the final four. His weekend in Wigan was ended on both days by Saturday’s eventual winner Wes Newton. The bookmakers are struggling to decide what to make of this clash with Totesport & Extrabet chancing 5/4 on Barney. Terry attributed last week’s win to the strengthening of his arm by doing a spot of gardening in the build up to the clash and with van Barneveld’s waning interest in the competition, punters will be hoping that the lawnmower has once again been gracing the green stuff in Ledbury in attempting to make a mockery of Boylesports & Sportingbet going a standout 8/5 on ‘The Raging Bull’.
Simon Whitlock v Adrian Lewis
It’s not often that the layers get one wrong nowadays but they appear to have made a slight blunder in chalking up Thursday’s final match. Aussie Simon Whitlock is available at no greater than 9/10 (Totesport & Boylesports) to take the two points against Adrian Lewis. Whitlock’s recent upsurge in form is no doubt the reason behind this, having pieced together two Premier League wins along with a 102.33 average in a narrow defeat against Phil Taylor in the previous three weeks. This coincided with two floor tournament wins on consecutive weekends. ‘Jackpot’ Adrian Lewis has been slightly off the boil following defeats to Terry Jenkins & Mervyn King but Sportingbet’s 23/10 on Lewis is an almighty over-reaction especially on a player who has notched four 100+ averages in the tournament so far (only Taylor betters this) and on that same player who has rattled in more 180s than anybody in the competition so far. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is partial to the odd awful performance thrown in here and there. He has dipped to below the 92 average barrier on five occasions at sporadic intervals in this year’s league and his most recent jaunt on the PDC Pro Tour in Wigan resulted in early exits to Alex Roy and Colin Osborne. Lewis knows that a win tonight will pull him level with Whitlock in the race to qualify. Lewis will have his followers at 23/10 and for those wishing to keep the draw on their side; he is 13/8 with Sportingbet again in the draw no bet market.
Verdict
James Wade (-2.5) to beat Ronnie Baxter at 9/10 (Various)
Adrian Lewis (draw no bet) to beat Simon Whitlock at 13/8 (Sportingbet)
