Luke Littler and Jonny Clayton have tied up two positions, while Josh Rock is eliminated and Stephen Bunting could join him at the end of this Night 15 in Birmingham.
It is the middle of the table that is creating the drama and just 5 points separates Gerwyn Price in 3rd place and Gian van Veen in 6th.
Another run to a Nightly Final pushed Luke Humphries into 4th place, but the defending Champion will regret yet another 6-5 defeat to Luke Littler that prevented him moving into the driving seat for Qualification behind the top two. Momentum is with Humphries and he will be looking to add at least another two points this week before Night 16 when he is going to be facing one of his main rivals for a spot at the O2 in the Quarter Finals in Sheffield.
At one stage it felt like Gerwyn Price was going to coast into the Play Offs, but he has lost some momentum and has admitted that he is not playing at full health right now- it has seen him withdraw from recent Players Championship and European Tour events, although the World Cup of Darts withdrawal is apparently not down to poor health as the PDC stated and that according to Price himself.
Two Dutchman make up the foursome pushing for the final two places and Michael van Gerwen won a big title earlier this week and looks to have more going on for him compared with Gian van Veen.
Of course hings can change very quickly in the Premier League and two big Nights remain for the players involved in all of the drama.
Josh Rock to win v Gian van Veen: The Premier League run is over, but Josh Rock will blame his early form for his troubles and the Northern Irishman is still playing at a really good level.
Picking up the European Tour 6 title last weekend backs up the statement and Rock is going to be very dangerous for Play Off chasing Gian van Veen.
All of the pressure is on the latter, but over the last two months, Gian van Veen's level has not been near to what he had been producing at the back end of 2025 and into early 2026. This has led to a number of early defeats and the Dutchman looks vulnerable in the opening Quarter Final on Night 15 of the Premier League.
Those chasing bigger prices may think about Josh Rock to complete the match double of winning with most maximums- in the Premier League he has only one fewer maximum compared with Gian van Veen and that despite playing a lot fewer matches.
However, just simply backing Rock to win at odds against looks the call.
Michael van Gerwen to win v Gerwyn Price: One Dutchman could find himself on the brink of elimination earlier in the night, but Michael van Gerwen could put himself in a really strong position in the 'weaker' side of the bracket on Night 15.
He was in devastating form earlier this week in winning Players Championship 15 and Michael van Gerwen has found a consistency that has been lacking in recent Gerwyn Price performances.
The Welshman has admitted that he is playing through a few health problems and that has meant The Ice Man has not taken part in recent Players Championship or European Tour events. It has also led to early losses in the Premier League and that has allowed three players to pull in close to 3rd place Price and put him under some pressure.
Gerwyn Price has won the last three matches against Michael van Gerwen, including twice in the Premier League, but the latter has rediscovered some of the early season form and can come through as the narrow underdog.
Luke Humphries to win & most 180s v Stephen Bunting: Not many would have predicted Luke Humphries would be entering Night 15 of the Premier League without a Nightly win, but he has found a way to reach the Final in each of the last two weeks.
Of course the defending Champion will be frustrated he has lost the last two Nightly Finals by the same 6-5 scoreline to Luke Littler, but the points have pushed Luke Humphries back into the top four of the Premier League standings.
He still has work to do in order to Qualify for the Play Offs later this month, but Humphries has momentum and he did narrowly beat Stephen Bunting last week.
Credit has to be given to Stephen Bunting for offering as much resistance as he did in that Semi Final in Leeds, but the defeat likely ends his hopes of playing at the O2 Arena in London.
Two solid Players Championship efforts earlier this week will have given Stephen Bunting a boost and he can be dangerous when finding his rhythm around the treble 20 bed. That was the case in the Semi Final last week when hitting two more maximums than Luke Humphries, but overall it is the latter who has had the edge in that market and he can reverse those maximum numbers in another winning effort against this rival.
Luke Littler to win & most 180s v Jonny Clayton: There has been little wrong with Jonny Clayton's Premier League performance nor the manner in which he has produced some power scoring, but Luke Littler has won the last three Premier League Nights and is motoring towards top spot.
A win on Thursday will effectively secure him the position before Night 16 and Luke Littler should be well rested as he looks to make it ten Premier League wins in a row.
Jonny Clayton reached the Players Championship 16 Final on Tuesday and he has been playing at a really good level all season.
He loves the Premier League, but it is Littler who has ended his run in two of the last three Nights and the World Number 1 wants to continue sticking it to his main rivals. This will pay dividends in the big Ranking tournaments to be played in the second half of the season and Littler can complete the match double in the last Quarter Final of the night.
MY PICKS: Josh Rock to Win @ 2.10 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Michael van Gerwen @ 2.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Luke Humphries to Win & Most 180s @ 2.62 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Luke Littler to Win & Most 180s @ 2.20 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Darts 2026: 63-93, - 18.16 Units (153 Units Staked, - 11.87% Yield)
No comments:
Post a Comment