Premier League Darts: Night three predictions, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV time

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Gerwyn Price takes centre stage on the one night of the year he receives a hero's reception - although the Cardiff fans will have high hopes of a Welsh double as Jonny Clayton makes his Premier League bow as this week's 'Challenger'.

Michael van Gerwen is bidding to protect his 100% record when he faces Nathan Aspinall on a night that starts with Peter Wright's clash with Rob Cross and concludes with Gary Anderson taking on Glen Durrant.

Premier League Night three: Thursday February 20

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• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
• Format: Maximum of 12 legs

Peter Wright (10/11) v Rob Cross (2/1), draw (3/1)

• Head-to-head: 7-10, 2 draws (TV: 4-5, 2 draws)
• Meetings since start of 2019: 2-3, 1 draw (TV: 2-1, 1 draw)
• PDC Titles Since Start of 2019: 7-2 (TV: 3-2)
• Career PDC Titles: 29-9 (TV: 7-4)

Rob Cross upset the form book against Nathan Aspinall in Nottingham last week and afterwards admitted he was irked by what he felt were disrespectful odds for him to win the match.

This followed an opening night draw with Gerwyn Price that he won't have liked being branded a 'surprise' so Voltage backers better hope he takes another close look at the odds ahead of his clash with Peter Wright because he's clearly revelling in the role of a player with a point to prove.

But nobody is doubting his star quality - just his form. And he can have few complaints about being priced up as a 2/1 underdog against the current world champion, who has maintained a supreme level of play since his Ally Pally triumph.

At the weekend's Players Championship events, Snakebite reached two semi-finals and averaged over 100 on seven occasions across both days. He lost to MVG on Saturday and then spurned match darts in a decider with Ian White 24 hours later.

Cross, by contrast, didn't fare so well and only one a single match.

Both of their last televised meetings at the Grand Slam of Darts and Champions League went the way of Wright so I'm going for him to seal a hat-trick.

Prediction: 7-4

Suggested bet: Wright to win, score over 2.5 180s and have a checkout of over 81.5 at 2/1

Jonny Clayton (5/2) v Michael Smith (8/11), draw (7/2)

• Head-to-head: 1-5 (TV: 1-1)
• Meetings since start of 2019: 0-0
• PDC Titles Since Start of 2019: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 3-11 (TV: 0-2)

Jonny Clayton finally gets his chance as a Premier League 'Challenger' and the Welsh fans can expect a nail-biter that goes right down to the wire.

The Ferret missed out last year because the round in Cardiff was after Judgement Night but now he'll get the arena bouncing ahead of Gerwyn Price's homecoming later in the night.

Clayton's sights would have been firmly fixed on this night for quite some time given his no-brainer selection although he'd have hoped for better form on the Pro Tour since shocking Michael van Gerwen at the Masters.

Michael Smith has also been inconsistent following his agonising defeat in the final of that event, and while he was breathtaking in the first half of his 6-6 draw last Thursday, he was below his best at the weekend.

I do think this match will see the full 12 legs, and perhaps the home crowd can help Clayton nick it and become the first victorious Challenger.

Prediction: 7-5

Suggested bet: Match to have over 11.5 legs, a high checkout of over 120.5 and over 5.5 180s at 4/1

Michael van Gerwen (4/11) v Nathan Aspinall (5/1), draw (4/1)

• Head-to-head: 3-2 (TV: 0-1)
• Meetings since start of 2019: 2-2 (TV: 1-0)
• PDC Titles Since Start of 2019: 14-3 (TV: 8-2)
• Career PDC Titles: 133-4 (TV: 53-2)

Last week I began my preview of MVG's clash with Daryl Gurney by saying: "Three tournaments completed this season and Michael van Gerwen is still without a title!"

Now we can extend that to five after another fruitless weekend on the Pro Tour.

Not even being runner-up on Saturday will come as any consolation, especially given his opponent Ryan Searle had never previously won a PDC title.

Van Gerwen doesn't lose many finals so perhaps it's yet another sign that his fear factor is diminishing compared with previous years, although you wouldn't have been able to say that after his 7-1 dismantling of Daryl Gurney last Thursday.

MVG is the only player boasting a 100% record after just two weeks of the season and is heavy favourite to make it three out of three against Nathan Aspinall, who didn't enjoy the best of weekends.

That said the Stockport thrower has won a title this season and will be fired up to gain a measure of revenge for his defeat in the World Championship semi-final - a match he knows he could have won had he played closer to his true self.

I'm going for a shock Aspinall win but it's wider to side with him at 2/1 with a +1.5 legs start on the handicap.

Prediction: 5-7

Suggested bet: Aspinall (+1.5 legs) at 2/1

Daryl Gurney (11/4) v Gerwyn Price (8/11), draw (3/1)

• Head-to-head: 3-9, 2 draws (TV: 0-3, 2 draws)
• Meetings since start of 2019: 2-2, 1 draw (TV: 0-2, 1 draw)
• PDC Titles Since Start of 2019: 2-5 (TV: 0-1)
• Career PDC Titles: 5-9 (TV: 2-2)

Daryl Gurney has never beaten Gerwyn Price on TV and there isn't much evidence to suggest he'll break his duck on Thursday night.

SuperChin, whose body language never seems particularly positive at the best of times, looks so short on confidence right now after a rotten start to the season and last week's 7-1 defeat to Michael van Gerwen could so easily have been a whitewash.

He also lost in the first round of both Players Championship events at the weekend when he really needed to get some wins under his belt.

Gurney may well bemoan the harshness of his Premier League fixtures - having his clash with MVG sandwiched between matches with Gary Anderson in Aberdeen and Price in Cardiff, although to be fair he coped pretty well north of the border before being pipped 7-5.

The Iceman will obviously be fired up for a rare hero's reception and I fully expect to see him blasting out of the blocks and claim his first victory of the season after two draws.

He'll want to take a leaf out of MVG's book too and show a struggling opponent no mercy so it could well be another wide margin of victory.

Prediction: 3-7

Suggested bet: Under 10.5 legs at 6/4

Glen Durrant (15/8) v Gary Anderson (1/1), draw (3/1)

• Head-to-head: 0-1 (TV: 0-1)
• Meetings since start of 2019: 0-0
• PDC Titles Since Start of 2019: 2-1 (TV: 0-0)
• Career PDC Titles: 2-47 (TV: 0-19)

Glen Durrant and Gary Anderson may well be 100 years of age combined, but these two darting legends are meeting for just the second time in their careers - and the first since the three-time BDO world champion joined the PDC.

Their only other previous meeting came way back in the group stages of the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts, which Anderson edged 5-4, so we can't really read anything into that.

Both players have made an unbeaten start to the campaign, although last week they probably felt their draws were a point dropped.

Anderson was unable to punish an injured Peter Wright and while Duzza was the player holding his nerve at the death to prevent Fallon Sherrock creating history, he did head into that clash as heavy favourite.

Durrant had the marginally better weekend as Anderson struggled to recreate the same magic as seven days earlier but he'll have to be as clinical on his doubles as ever if the Flying Scotsman finds his scoring form.

Prediction: 6-6

Suggested bet: Three or more 100+ checkouts in the match at 7/2

Accumulators

Treble: Wright, Clayton and Price at 10.54/1

Draw no bet accas: The above acca at 4.23/1

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2020 Premier League Darts Table

1. Van Gerwen P 2 W 2 D 0 L 0 LegD +8 Pts 4
2. Durrant P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 LegD +4 Pts 3
3. Cross P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 LegD +2 Pts 3
4. Anderson P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 LegD +2 Pts 3
5. Aspinall P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 LegD +2 Pts 2
6. Price P 2 W 0 D 2 L 0 LegD +0 Pts 2
7. Wright P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 LegD -2 Pts 1
8. Smith P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 LegD -4 Pts 1
9. Gurney P 2 W 0 D 0 L 2 LegD -8 Pts 0

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