David Haye, Whitney Houston and the X Factor are all due at the MEN Arena in Manchester in the coming weeks but it’s the Premier League Darts that hits town on Thursday night. The evening will see early pace-setters Phil Taylor & Mervyn King face off.
James Wade v Ronnie Baxter
Regular darts enthusiasts will have noted a return to form of James Wade last week in Exeter. The 2009 Champion posted his highest average of the tournament so far (98.41) in gaining his first point of 2010 against Adrian Lewis. He is installed as 4/6 favourite with Coral to see off the resurgent Ronnie Baxter in Manchester. Unlike some of the Premier League stars, Wade travelled to Gladbeck for the weekend’s Pro Tour events where he was defeated by PDC number 170 Peter Hudson in the last 32 on Saturday before a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Gary Anderson in Sunday’s Quarter Final. The latter showing may be forgiven in that the Scotsman took those six legs in just 76 darts, averaging an astonishing 118+ in the process. Despite a more Wade-like performance in last week’s encounter, the Aldershot man is still seemingly off the boil and he can be picked up at 5/6 to average under 97 this week – something he has done on three of his four outings to date. Ronnie Baxter almost brought the roof off the Winter Gardens in his 16-10 World Matchplay victory over Wade in July, one of four victories in the last five against the same man. Sportingbet are chancing 16/5 on the Lancastrian prevailing again. The 180s line is interesting with the layers generally setting the mark at 5.5. Baxter has averaged 2.75 180s per game compared to Wade’s 3.25 in this year’s competition which suggests that 6 maximums are definitely achievable.
Phil Taylor v Mervyn King
Last year’s early pace-setters are once again standing out from the pack with Phil Taylor and Mervyn King notching seven wins from eight between them so far. These two clashed in last year’s 7-7 draw in the Premier League before King ultimately went on to knock the world number one out at the semi final stage. The Power will undoubtedly be out for revenge and is a best priced 1/3 to take the honours on Thursday. King regained his superb 2010 form with a victory over Terry Jenkins last week but then failed to make the latter stages in Germany after defeats to Kevin Painter and Gary Anderson (one of four men to be on the receiving of a 6-0 whitewash to Anderson). Bwin are a standout 13/2 on King registering his fifth win over Taylor. Taylor was once again sluggish out of the blocks against van Barneveld last week, going 2-0 down before reeling off eight consecutive legs and Skybet go 4/6 that no 180 is hit in the first leg. With the leg likely to be wrapped up in not much more than 15 darts, this may be worth investment.
Terry Jenkins v Raymond van Barneveld
The Raging Bull hasn’t quite been hitting the soaring heights of the ton-plus averages but he remains as steady as they come and his defeat to King in Exeter was his first of the tournament. It’s a sign of the times that the bookmakers are unable to split these two, Skybet go 5/4 the pair whilst Bwin are standout best (13/10) on Barney with Terry available at 6/4 (Blue Square). Both men chose not to attend the weekend’s events and should be fully refreshed in time for Thursday’s play. A lot will depend on the kind of start that the Dutchman gets off to. We have already seen Adrian Lewis rattle off six consecutive legs on Barney whilst Taylor went two better in Exeter. Jenkins has the throw in legs one, three & five yet is still 8/11 to be the first to three. It is conceivable that van Barneveld’s head may begin to drop should he fall behind and Boylesports are offering 10/11 that he again falls below the 95 average mark. This has occurred in 75% of his four games so far. The general rule of thumb in darts is that Taylor’s opponents tend to average slightly higher than normal as they are getting fewer throws at the doubles. Barney had an 89.85 average against The Power (one of only three sub-90 averages in the whole tournament) and as his most recent indicator of form, the 10/11 should attract considerable support.
Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock
The most recent winner on the PDC Pro Tour is Adrian Lewis. Jackpot stormed the field in Germany on Sunday to take his sixth Pro Tour title. The title erased the memory of a 6-1 defeat to Mark Dudbridge 24 hours earlier and the fixed odds firms go 13/10 about a Lewis victory over Australian Simon Whitlock. It may be a bit harsh to suggest that Whitlock is out of sorts but his move to the UK has been met with averages that are some five points short of what he was producing at the Alexandra Palace in his World Championship run and should be taken on against Lewis. Terry Jenkins didn’t have do too much more than is routine in avenging his World Championship loss to The Wizard last week whilst Jackpot added a bit of steel to his early power scoring in snatching a point from the jaws of defeat against James Wade. It may well be a tight encounter but Lewis is the man in form and definitely the man to back. The advice is to take advantage of the 13/10 while it lasts.
Verdict
James Wade v Ronnie Baxter to produce over 5 180s at 5/6 (Various)
No 180 in the opening leg of Phil Taylor v Mervyn King at 4/6 (Skybet)
Raymond van Barneveld to average under 95.01 at 10/11 (Boylesports)
Adrian Lewis to beat Simon Whitlock at 13/10 (Various)
