PDC Premier League Darts 2019: Week 13 Betting and Odds Preview

premier leagueThe Manchester Arena is the scene for Week 12 of the PDC Premier League Darts on Thursday evening, with the first game due to commence on the ‘oche’ at around 19:15 BST. With just three weeks remaining of the regular season, there are still six players all desperately fighting for four qualification places to attend Finals Night at the O2 Arena in London on May 23rd.

Week 12 Results and Outright Market Updates

Following the 7-7 stalemate with Mensur Suljovic in Birmingham, ‘Bully Boy’ Michael Smith is effectively eliminated from the 2019 tournament. Smith has nine points so far in the league standings, and with just three weeks remaining, it is now impossible for Smith to qualify for the London finals. By contrast, Austrian Suljovic is firmly in the mix in fifth place on 15 points, with just leg differential separating Suljovic, Gerwyn Price and James Wade.

Suljovic is a generally available 20/1 chance to win the Premier League, but the 11/13 on offer with SportingBet for the popular Austrian to qualify for the Semi-finals could prove popular with some punters.

Drawn contests were a feature of Week 12 in Birmingham, as Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price fought out another stalemate. ‘Voltage’ Cross flew into a 3-1 lead, but Price admirably fought back to lead 6-4, but missed four match darts, and Cross punished the Welshman for an entertaining share of the spoils.

Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price

Cross is unchanged in the betting to lift the Premier League title at 9/2 with Betfred and Betway, while Price has drifted slightly to 14/1 from 12’s with Betway. For punters who believe that Price’s challenge for the Top Four will dissolve, SportingBet offer 7/5 for the Welshman not to qualify for the Finals Night.

Daryl Gurney was the only winner in Week 12 with an 8-4 win over a below-par Peter Wright, who has also been eliminated in calculations for Finals Night. Wright seems to be using this season’s tournament as a practice session for new darts each week, and his performances have significantly suffered. Gurney took full advantage to maintain his challenge towards the play-offs on 14 points.

The Northern Irishman faces a stiff task to qualify however, with Michael van Gerwen up next. SportingBet go 11/5 on ‘Super Chin’ making Finals Night.

The crescendo of last weeks’ action was another entertaining 7-7 draw between James Wade and Michael van Gerwen. Full credit must be given to Wade for matching the world number one dart-for-dart in this game, and fully deserved a share of the spoils.

From a betting angle, MVG’s odds to win the Premier League has remained stagnant at the best industry price of 1/2 with Ladbrokes and Unibet while ‘The Machine’ Wade has been trimmed into a widely available price of 10/1. Wade’s game is in a very good place right now, and he could well be a strong contender on Finals Night, if remaining in the same form.

Now on to Week 13 in Manchester, with some fascinating contests once again in prospect, here are our views on the matches to hopefully point our readers in the right direction for some winning selections.

Rob Cross v Michael Smith

rob cross
Rob Cross

Cross opened up proceedings last week against Mensur Suljovic, and he will be hoping to cement his place within the top four here against Smith, who has effectively nothing to play for, but that makes the man from St Helens a dangerous opponent.

Looking at the Match Betting, Cross is the obvious favourite to claim the two points, and he can be backed at the top price of even money (1/1) with SportingBet, while Smith is an 11/5 chance with Unibet. The Draw is a 15/4 shot with Betway.

Since October 2017, Cross has won eight of his last ten meetings with Smith, and that run of form can continue in this game. Even money seems reasonable value on Cross in this contest, who has lots to play for here.

Peter Wright v Mensur Suljovic

The second contest of the evening is in a very similar context as the opener, as the already ousted Peter Wright faces the top-four chasing Mensur Suljovic.

The Match Betting is in a similar vein also, as Suljovic is the hot favourite, at the best industry odds of even money with Ladbrokes and Coral to grab all two points. Scotsman, Wright is a 21/10 chance with Unibet and SportPesa to derail the surge of Suljovic in recent weeks. The Draw is an 18/5 shot with 10Bet and SportingBet.

Week 13 is a must win contest for Suljovic, with games against Rob Cross and Michael van Gerwen to finish off the regular season in the next fortnight. Wright showed glimpses of better form in last weeks’ defeat to Daryl Gurney, and while most people would be prepared to write ‘Snakebite’ off in this contest, the popular Scot can make this an uncomfortable evening for the desperately points-seeking Suljovic. Our offering in this game is for the match to be played at Over 13.5 legs at 7/5 with SportingBet.

Daryl Gurney v Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen

Sixth plays first in this contest, as Daryl Gurney hopes to extend his winning run, but faces a difficult task against ‘Mighty’ Michael van Gerwen, in the penultimate match of the night. Van Gerwen is the ‘red hot’ 2/5 favourite with Sporting Bet to claim his ninth win of the league season, while Gurney is a big outsider at 11/2 with Unibet and Betway. The Draw is also an 11/2 chance with Unibet.

There is hope for Gurney in this matchup as the Northern Irishman has won the last two meetings between the players, with a 7-5 win in Week 7 of the Premier League being the most recent. ‘MVG’ has not been at his most potent in the last couple of weeks in the competition, however, I feel that this could well be the time he hits better form, to stamp his authority as the league leader. SportingBet’s offering of 7/10 on van Gerwen covering a –2.5 leg handicap rates as a strong selection here.

James Wade v Gerwyn Price

The PDC organisers deserve great credit for deciding on the final game of the evening to be between these two adversaries, with the winner taking a big step towards qualification for Finals Night.

Both players are locked on 15 points in the league standings, but Wade has a far superior leg differential over his rival. The bookmakers have priced this game up with Wade as the narrow favourite at 13/10 with Unibet, while Welshman, Price, can be backed the standout 8/5 with Betfred. Considering the close nature of the results of the two players, The Draw could well be a popular selection with some punters at 18/5 with Red Zone and SportPesa.

A very difficult game to call in truth, but we have to pin our colours to the mast of James Wade in this one. His recent form is of a very high standard, and he can narrowly take the spoils over the determined Price. An 8-6 victory for Wade can be backed at 17/2 with Ladbrokes and Coral, but it is far from a confident selection in truth.

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