Premier League Darts 2018 Betting: Week 7

After a brief break due to poor weather conditions in week 5, the PDC Darts Premier League returned last Thursday with a dramatic night of action in Leeds. Following the five matches, the table now looks more predictable with Michael Van Gerwen sitting at the top but there were some surprise results, including a 7-1 hammering of Peter Wright by Mensur Suljovic.

However, with Van Gerwen returned to the top of the tree, the tournament winner betting is now shortening in favour of the Dutchman.

Outright Betting

Michael van Gerwen

MVG has a clear lead in the outright market and the best available price on the league leader now sits at 4/7 with William Hill and Betway. Behind Mighty Mike, World Champion Rob Cross is now on a roll and having defeated the previous table topper, Michael Smith, last time out, Cross is available at best odds of 6/1 with 10Bet and Sport Pesa.

Moving on, while Gary Anderson has picked up three straight tournament wins, the Flying Scotsman isn’t quite as effective in the Premier League and you can back him now at a top price. Peter Wright remains as fourth favourite despite that heavy defeat in Leeds and Snakebite is quoted at best odds of 11/1 with BetFred.

Mensur Suljovic

Behind the Top Four, things really start to open up and after Michael Smith’s first loss of the 2018 campaign, Bully Boy is now available at a best of 22/1 with 10Bet for the tournament win. Simon Whitlock has fallen away after a strong start to the competition and is listed at a top price of 66/1 and you can get those same odds on Mensur Suljovic.

Daryl Gurney follows on at a best of 80/1 with William Hill and the man at the bottom of the table - Gerwyn Price - looks likely to be eliminated and is therefore way out at 500/1 with SportingBet.

That’s the up to date prices on the outright tournament betting so what does week 7 have in store?

First Up

Michael Smith

Michael Smith has become used to opening the night’s entertainment and he looks a good option to beat Peter Wright when the action gets underway at 7.15pm UK time. Wright is actually the favourite at best odds of Even Money with Sport Pesa but when you look at Premier League form, Smith could be the value bet at 41/18 with MarathonBet.

The draw completes this market at best odds of 7/2 with Betway and this option could attract interest with two of Wright’s previous games ending in a 6-6 scoreline.

Next up to the oche are Simon Whitlock and Daryl Gurney who need to pick up points to pull themselves clear of the dropzone. This is a fairly tight market with Gurney the favourite at a top price of Even Money with William Hill and Winner Sports while Whitlock is on offer at 9/4 with Sun Bets and BetBright.

Back on Form

Rob Cross

Rob Cross started the 2018 Premier League campaign with two straight defeats but since then has rediscovered the form that made him World Champion in January. Michael Smith pushed him close but Cross edged out the former league leader and now looks a good bet to beat Mensur Suljovic at a top price of 13/15 with 10Bet and 188Bet.

Austrian Suljovic has also made a recovery of sorts and has hauled himself off the bottom of the table. After demolishing Peter Wright last time out, there will be some interest in the Austrian at best odds of 27/10 with BetBright and the draw completes things here at 7/2 with Winner Sports.

Follow the Leader

Peter Wright

The fourth match of the night is top versus bottom as our new league leader Michael Van Gerwen tackles Peter Wright. Needless to say, there isn’t too much value in the result betting here with MVG way ahead at odds of 3/19 to take two points and Price back at a best of 14/1 with Unibet.

In fact, the bookies see Price as such a distant option that the draw comes in as second favourite at best odds of 9/1 with Boylesports and we think that the Dutchman is the obvious bet for this one.

Finishing Off

Raymond Van Barneveld

The final game of the night involves Raymond Van Barneveld and Gary Anderson who are both in mid-table and will be eager for a win to keep some distance between themselves and the bottom. As we mentioned, Anderson has contrasting form with three tournament wins since picking up the UK Open at the start of the month while his Premier League performances have been a little underwhelming.

Despite that, the Flying Scotsman is the hot favourite here at a top price of 8/13 with MarathonBet while Barney is the outsider at best odds of 4/1 with Boylesports. The draw is also available at that best price of 4/1 with William Hill and Coral and there could be some value here for those that aren’t siding with the favourite.

Verdict

While we wouldn’t often tip the draw, on average we see at least one tied game every week so Whitlock and Gurney to finish 6-6 is our first tip in what should definitely be a very tight contest.

Elsewhere, both Cross and Van Gerwen should come through their matches so if you’re happy to bet with the favourites, those games are likely to give you some smaller profits. It’s tempting to back Van Barneveld to get something out of his game with Gary Anderson but the Dutchman has fallen away after a bright start to 2018. Nevertheless, this could be closer than the market suggests and Anderson to win by 7-4 carries a good price of 7/1 with SkyBet.

That just leaves the game between Michael Smith and Peter Wright and based on pure Premier League form, there has to be some value in backing Smith at that 41/18 price, We’ve taken some riskier punts this week so by all means play safer by staking on some favourites but we do like to spot longer-odds value when we can and hopefully these three tips will lead to a nice overall profit for week seven.

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