Jonny Clayton looked to be in a bit of a slump, but picking up the Night 11 win means he is back on top of the standings and almost certainly playing at the O2 Arena at the end of May.
There is an 11 point gap between Luke Littler and 5th place and you have to imagine he already has enough in hand to earn his spot in the Semi Final, although there may be some motivation in wanting to finish top of the regular season standings. How much could depend on how the 4th place position shakes up, but Littler is 5 points behind Clayton and needs some consistency over the final five weeks to close down the Welshman and ultimately overtake him.
The European Tour 5 event last weekend was won by Gerwyn Price and he is 3rd in the Premier League standings and likely a couple more Quarter Final wins away from earning his chance to win the trophy. That victory in Germany last weekend will have given Price a huge boost and he has been playing at a very high level throughout 2026, while having a few more days to recover from an illness can only be good news.
He has the momentum, but it feels like it is below Price that the race for the Play Offs really is taking place.
4th place is currently held by Michael van Gerwen, but his Quarter Final defeat on Night 11 means he is 3 points ahead of Luke Humphries, 4 points ahead of Gian van Veen and 5 points ahead of Stephen Bunting. That looks a decent gap, but there are plenty of points still to play for and the defending Champion, Luke Humphries, remains a danger even if he has yet to find the consistency that took him to the title eleven months ago.
Night 12 feels like an opportunity for the likes of Gian van Veen and Stephen Bunting on the other side of the draw to Luke Littler, but they have the two Welshman to deal with in the Quarter Final.
Instead it is Michael van Gerwen who looks to have the chance to extend his lead in 4th place with the 'easiest' of the four Quarter Finals to play, although he will be well aware that Josh Rock has raised his level significantly over the last month and who has been winning Quarter Final matches in the Premier League setting even as it has come a little late to really have the Northern Irishman pushing for a late inclusion in the Play Offs.
With the Premier League entering the final quarter of the regular season next week, this is a big Night for all involved.
Gerwyn Price to win & most 180s v Gian van Veen: Five losses in a row have just underlined the fact that Gian van Veen has not been at his best since his operation and he has lost some ground in the race for the top four in the Premier League.
An early loss last weekend means he heads to Liverpool with little momentum and the Dutchman could struggle to keep up with Gerwyn Price.
The Ice Man was out of sorts in Rotterdam having just returned from an illness, but his performance to win the European Tour 5 event suggests Price has more than recovered.
This is a player producing some very significant scoring and the expectation is that Gerwyn Price will win this match.
Th Welshman has been the much more consistent maximum hitter of the two and he can secure the Match Double in this Quarter Final.
Jonny Clayton to win & both players over 1.5 180s v Stephen Bunting: Last year, Stephen Bunting played a really poor Quarter Final in his defeat in Liverpool and you do have to imagine the emotions got the better of him.
In 2026, that experience should lead to a better effort from Bunting, but he may still come up short against Premier League leader Jonny Clayton who returned to form on Night 11.
Earning the Nightly win after three successive Quarter Final defeats will have just reignited the fire for Jonny Clayton and he played well in Germany last weekend before throwing in a poor match against Martin Schindler. Missing doubles proved to be the issue, but Clayton can bounce back by putting up another two points in the Premier League.
Stephen Bunting was not at his best in the defeat to Wessel Nijman in Germany, while he has been struggling for consistency in the Premier League in his bid to close in on the top four places.
Playing at home can be tough at times, but both players should contribute to the maximums being hit and it may be a match that Jonny Clayton can do just enough to edge through.
Michael van Gerwen to win & both players over 1.5 180s v Josh Rock: He has been playing well outside of the Premier League setting so it is not a major surprise that Josh Rock has begun to win games on Thursday nights.
Unfortunately for the Northern Irishman, he has yet to win back to back matches on the same night and that leaves him with a lot of work to do if he is going to make a surprise run through to the Play Offs.
Losing this Quarter Final will make it very difficult for Josh Rock to do that against the player currently occupying the last of those Play Off places, but he will not be lacking for any confidence when facing Michael van Gerwen.
After opening the season looking more like his old self, Michael van Gerwen has been struggling for consistency, but he has been doing just enough to keep the points ticking over. He was well beaten by compatriot Wessel Nijman last weekend in the Third Round of the latest European Tour event played, but van Gerwen will feel his steady kind of level may be enough to win this match.
Both are more than capable of putting a couple of maximums on the board, but it feels like the Dutchman may just do what he needs to earn a spot in the Semi Final, while adding two more key points to his tally.
Luke Humphries v Luke Littler: These two players have met three times in the Premier League and all have come down to a last Leg decider.
Luke Littler has won two of those, including last week in the Semi Final, and it is understandable that he has been set as the favourite.
However, over the last month, Luke Littler has not been operating at his very best and even the motivation to top this Premier League regular season standings may not be as high as some may think. Perhaps the altercation with Gian van Veen on Night 9 in Manchester has had some kind of impact on him and so there is an opportunity for Luke Humphries.
The doubling has really let Humphries down in the Premier League and his 37% checkout percentage is the worst of the top six.
Scoring has not been a problem, but you won't win many matches if you cannot double out when needed and it has proven to be costly.
However, he has at least played with more confidence when facing Luke Littler, even if coming out of the wrong side more often than not, and Luke Humphries may be able to make the underdog odds pay out here if he can just find some composure from somewhere to really start moving towards the top four in the defence of the title he won eleven months ago.
MY PICKS: Gerwyn Price to Win & Most 180s @ 2.75 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Jonny Clayton to Win & Both Players Over 1.5 180s @ 2.60 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Michael van Gerwen to Win & Both Players Over 1.5 180s @ 2.70 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Luke Humphries @ 2.50 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Darts 2026: 53-79, - 15.88 Units (129 Units Staked, - 12.31% Yield)
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