THE final week of the Premier League takes place and Gary Anderson’s defeat to Raymond van Barneveld has kept Daryl Gurney’s hope of making the last four a narrow but possible chance.
This will of course mean Gurney will need to win and win well against Peter Wright, with failure to do so putting the Scot in the driving seat for fourth place without throwing a dart. The leg difference is 12 as it stands and even if Gurney won the game it would rely on MVG to beat Anderson by a modest margin also.
I am sure come the evening Sky Sports will enlist the permutations for the evening, but with a best of twelve and a twelve leg difference between the pair, the maths can be done.
Looking at the outrights MVG remains the 8/15 favourite with 10bet, with Gary Anderson next in at 9/2. Cross is 11/2 with Bet365 with 10bet 12/1 on Michael Smith.
Week 15 fixtures
Michael Smith Vs Raymond van Barneveld (6/4 – 7/2 – 6/4)
Michael Smith will confirm second place with at least a point against Raymond van Barneveld. However, Barney has more to play for, as Smith has banked at least £80K irrespective of finishing 2nd, 3rd or 4th. With his likely opponent Rob Cross in the semi final, this is essentially an extra £10K for Barney if Gurney fails to win his match later on the card.
Barney’s management would have informed Ray about this and has nothing to lose, hence the odds compiler pricing at 6/4, which is fair. You would have to question whether Smith will come into this in full flow and taking Barney at evens on a draw no bet scenario would be the most appropriate play although Smith has been unwell recently so taking the punt on the Dutch Maestro to win the 180 tally is as big as 2/1 with Betfair but and attractive 10/11 with the handicap start.
Peter Wright Vs Daryl Gurney (7/5 – 7/2 – 8/5)
Snakebite will admit that his campaign has been lessor than expected for this campaign and will look forward to the rest of the season.
Gurney has it all to do and all the hard work displayed could be simply overturned with the following game with Anderson. However the scenario that Gurney could actually finish sixth will feel like a kick in the teeth.The danger is, Wright is playing with no pressure and Gurney is, so factoring this into a punting price makes a Gurney 8/5 price a no-no. However will Wright bother playing his true capable self with nothing really to play for?
A real punters nightmare at the time of writing.
Michael van Gerwen Vs Gary Anderson (8/13 – 4/1 – 18/5)
Mighty Mike has finished top of the table again, and has pocketed a cool league winners bonus. But wlll MVG want to put all his efforts in to hoover up a final win, where this could be a dress rehearsal of the fist semi final the following week?
The betting suggests that MVG is a tad below a 60% chance to win with Anderson nearer a 4/1 poke, and a game we will sit out of. MVG will want to shine especially on Scottish ground and -2.5 legs
Recommendations:
- U44.5 legs on the night – 5/6 Betfred 4pts
- MVG win and Gurney most 180s draw no bet – 23/20 Coral 2pts
