Luke Littler's spat with Gian van Veen made the headlines on Night 9, but it was one of four Quarter Final matches where the underdog found a way to get through.
Gerwyn Price won the Night 9 trophy and has moved into 2nd place in the Premier League standings and the pressure has really built up on Luke Humphries.
The defending Champion is in for a battle to merely make it back to the O2 Arena after another early defeat and he needs a big week very quickly if only to offer up some momentum to move into the top four places.
Luke Humphries to win & both players over 1.5 180s v Jonny Clayton: After winning a European Tour title, Luke Humphries would have been expecting much more than back to back Quarter Final defeats in the next two Premier League nights.
He cannot afford another one with a two point gap between himself and the top four and especially if Humphries is to allow Jonny Clayton to just pull himself out of his own recent slump.
Unlike Luke Humphries, Clayton was playing out in Germany and made the Quarter Final before coming up short against Danny Noppert.
A strong start to the Premier League campaign has seen Clayton place 19 points on the board, but the Welshman has suffered three straight Quarter Final defeats since picking up the maximum points on Night 6.
The real disappointment for Clayton is that he has lost to Josh Rock in back to back weeks and those are the only wins the Northern Irishman has produced in the Premier League this season. He has also been beaten the last couple of times when facing Luke Humphries since that Night 6 Final win against the World Number 2 and it may be an opportunity for Humphries to get back to winning ways here in what is usually contests where both players can fill up the maximums.
Gerwyn Price to win & over 2.5 180s v Josh Rock: After getting the better of one Welshman in back to back Premier League Quarter Finals, Josh Rock takes aim at the in-form Gerwyn Price.
There was nothing wrong with the level Rock was producing in Germany over Easter Weekend and he lost a high quality match against Niels Zonneveld.
However, Josh Rock has struggled with the Premier League environment and it is going to be very difficult to slow down Price and the momentum he has picked up.
Moving into 2nd place in the Premier League standings, Gerwyn Price has been in fine form for a number of weeks and should be well rested having skipped the last European Tour event. He will recognise that Josh Rock is playing better, but The Ice Man has been producing top level darts and he should have enough power scoring to contain the threat of the younger player with nothing to lose.
Luke Littler to win & most 180s v Stephen Bunting: There has been little wrong with recent Stephen Bunting efforts against Luke Littler, but he has ultimately come up short in those Premier League contests and that is largely down to the power scoring of the World Number 1.
After the issues at the end of the defeat to Gian van Veen, it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction Luke Littler will get from the crowd in Brighton.
For all the talent he possesses, it can be easy to forget that Littler is still young and relatively inexperienced and he has not always handled the crowd turning against him. That becomes a potential factor in this match with Stephen Bunting usually receiving plenty of support, but Littler will want to draw a line under the controversy in Manchester and perhaps set up that rematch with van Veen who plays in the last Quarter Final.
Luke Littler continues to dominate the maximum hitting and he can be backed to complete the match double against Stephen Bunting yet again.
Michael van Gerwen v Gian van Veen: Both of these players travelled to Germany for the last European Tour event, but neither produced anything of note and will now return to Premier League action.
After Night 9 and Gian van Veen reaching the Final, there is now just a point between the compatriots with Michael van Gerwen clinging onto a top four place.
There just has not been a lot of consistency produced by either player, but Gian van Veen was perhaps a little fortunate to reach the Final on Night 9 and his current form has remained sketchy.
You can say the same for Michael van Gerwen, but a slow start cost him in his Quarter Final defeat to Stephen Bunting- the average was decent enough when fighting back, but too much was left to do at that point of the match.
A stronger start is key, but Gian van Veen has not been producing the big numbers in recent weeks and that may allow his fellow Dutchman to come away with a win as the narrow underdog.
MY PICKS: Luke Humphries to Win & Both Over 1.5 180s @ 2.05 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Gerwyn Price to Win & Over 2.5 180s @ 2.15 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Luke Littler to Win & Most 180s @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Michael van Gerwen @ 2.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Darts 2026: 46-65, - 10.83 Units (108 Units Staked, - 10.03% Yield)
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