PDC Premier League Darts 2019: Week 12 Betting and Odds Preview

With just four weeks of the regular season remaining, The Birmingham Arena is the scene for Week 12 of the PDC Premier League Darts on Thursday night with the action due off at around 19:15 BST. After four fascinating contests in Cardiff last week, the league table is beginning to take shape for the players who will contest the Finals Night at London’s O2 Arena on the 23rd May.

Week 11 Results and Outright Market Updates

Michael Van Gerwen
Michael Van Gerwen

The Mean Green Machine that is Dutchman Michael van Gerwen returned to the top of the Premier League standings at the expense of Rob Cross, with the World’s number one player coasting to an 8-2 victory in the Welsh principality. Boasting an impressive three-dart average of 107.87, van Gerwen took full advantage of a below par Cross, to assert himself as the league leader, after losing the position in Week 9.

Van Gerwen’s role as the market leader to win the Premier League has shortened yet further with the bookmakers into a best industry price of 1/2 with Ladbrokes and Unibet. Cross’ heavy defeat has seen ‘Voltage’ drift out to 9/2 with William Hill and Betfred.

James Wade continued his strong recent form with a similar 8-2 win over an underperforming Peter Wright. Wade held his position of third place in the table – ahead of Gerwyn Price and Mensur Suljovic on leg differential. Wade has showed a very consistent level of form in this season’s Premier League, and he has not been out of the top four placings since back in Week 3.

Betway and William Hill Bet offer the standout price of 11/1 on Wade lifting the trophy in five weeks' time. By contrast, Wright is languishing in seventh place in the table, and realistically needs four consecutive wins to have any real hopes of qualifying for the O2. As such, ‘Snakebite’ is a 250/1 chance with Ladbrokes amongst others to win the title.

A pair of 8-5 wins for Gerwyn Price and Mensur Suljovic maintained their position - hot on the heels of James Wade, with the trio all on 14 points after Week 11. Price overcame Michael Smith with his consistency at the doubles proving to be the deciding factor, while Suljovic battled with Daryl Gurney, in a tense, yet intriguing clash.

Smith, is all but out of the tournament in terms of qualification for Finals Night, and like Peter Wright, he needs four wins from the least four games, and results need to fall in his favour. Even the 250/1 on offer with various layers does not hold any value in truth. Irishman, Gurney, sits two points behind the trio on fourteen points and is a generally available 22/1 chance.

Price and Suljovic are marked up at 12/1 with Ladbrokes and William Hill (Price) and 16/1 for the Austrian, Suljovic with Betfred respectively.

Now to Week 12, with some fascinating contests in prospect, here are our views on the matches to hopefully point our readers in the right direction for some winning selections.

Suljovic v Smith

Mensur Suljovic
Mensur Suljovic

In what is the last chance saloon for ‘Bully Boy’, it remains to be seen how the man from St Helens will approach this game. Perhaps slightly surprisingly, Smith is the 13/10 favourite with Unibet, to win this match, with Suljovic an 8/5 shot with SportingBet, while the Draw can be taken at 7/2 with Unibet and Betway.

Suljovic battled admirably last week, and his celebration – not just for winning the match, but for guaranteeing a point over Gurney – showed his desperation to succeed in this tournament. Smith can come into this game with nothing to lose however, and that dynamic makes this game difficult to call. I do not foresee either player strolling to victory in this game, and the Draw could well be the play at 7/2.

Cross v Price

Another tough game to call here. Rob Cross will be looking to regain the winning thread, but must overcome an in-form Price, who has seven points from his last four outings. The bookmakers believe that Cross has what it takes to beat the Welshman, and he can be backed at 19/20 with RedZoneSports and SportPesa. Considering his fine recent form, Price would well be a popular choice with punters at 11/5 with Ladbrokes and Coral, while the Draw is a 15/4 chance with SportingBet.

This game could well be another close affair, in which Rob Cross could just have enough to grab the victory. It is short odds, but Price with a +2.5-leg handicap advantage could be a shrewd play at 8/13 with Coral. As for a Correct Score offering; Cross to win 8-6 can be had with William Hill and Betway and that is worth a punt at 8/1.

Gurney v Wright

Daryl Gurney
Daryl Gurney

Irishman Gurney has just one point from his last three matches, while Wright has just one point from his last five contests, so both players are obviously desperate for the win – in particular, Gurney, who is a 5/4 chance with Betway and SportPesa. Black Type go top price of 8/5 on Peter Wright putting the wrongs of the last five weeks aside to claim victory, while the Draw is available with RedZoneSports and SportPesa at the unusual odds of 62/17.

Peter Wright looks to be a man who cannot wait for this season’s Premier League to finish in terms of his performance levels in recent weeks. I could be wrong with that statement, but I’m prepared to row in with Daryl Gurney in this game to win with something to spare. The 7/4 on offer with Betway for Gurney to cover the –2.5 legs handicap is worth taking here.

Wade v Van Gerwen

Third plays first in the final game of the evening, as James Wade looks to do the regular season double over Michael van Gerwen following a 7-3 win over the Dutchman back in Week 4. As you might expect though, van Gerwen is the strong favourite to reverse form in this game, as ‘MVG’ is a best priced 4/9 with Ladbrokes and Coral to prevail. The Draw is the second preference with the layers in this game at 9/2 with William Hill, while a repeat win for Wade can be had at 5/1 with Unibet.

If Michael van Gerwen repeats the level of performance of the last two weeks, then James Wade will not be able to cope with the power scoring and finishing prowess of the Dutchman. However, if MVG is not on top form, Wade has the game to offer problems here. On this occasion, I can only see an easy night’s work for van Gerwen, who will cement his position at the top of the table with another victory. The odds of 13/16 with SportPesa and RedZoneSports for MVG to cover a –2.5 handicap is the best bet of the evening.

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