Let’s look at the Premier League Darts 2019 week 12 betting tips. The race for the title of Premier League Darts 2019 champion appears to have been narrowed to a field of six, with Michael Smith and Peter Wright cast adrift from the rest of the pack.
They would need to win all four of their remaining matches – and hope other results go their way – to have any hope of a play-off place, and that’s always a tough position to be in.
Otherwise, it appears as if Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross will finish in the top two places, and that leaves a rather exciting tussle between messrs Wade, Price, Suljovic and Gurney for the remaining play-off spots.
All of which means that Week 12 in Birmingham is set up rather beautifully.
Bully Boy to Finally Reap His Rewards
When the chips are down, some people politely make their excuses and leave the table, whereas others pick up their knife and fork and get to work.
You have to feel a bit sorry for Michael Smith, who is on the brink of elimination from the competition. He’s averaged 99+ in each of his last four games and picked up the grand total of one point.
His latest tormentor was Gerwyn Price, who was inspired on home Cardiff soil to sentence the Bully Boy to another defeat in a game in which he played well.
This week he will finally be looking to sample victory against Mensur Suljovic, whose own performance-to-points ratio continues to boggle the mind.
The Gentle’s highest average in his last five games is 93.69, and yet he’s been able to pick up six points in that time. It’s enough to make Smith sick to his stomach.
But it’s not all about the averages, and Suljovic is becoming a master of timing his winning legs to perfection.
He’ll be looking to maintain that in Birmingham where he’s a 6/4 poke with Ladbrokes, while Smith can be backed at 13/10 with Betfred.
Cross Looking to Tie Up Play-Off Place
From 2-0 up to 2-8 down in the space of about 15 minutes, Rob Cross will have been rather keen on ringing Michael van Gerwen’s neck in Cardiff.
It’s proof again that the former world champion is playing good darts everywhere apart from in big games, notably those against MVG and in the business end of the Players Championship events.
Mind you, Cross’s tournament average is a shade under a ton – not bad considering there’s been 12 rounds of matches, and that consistency should stand him in good stead for the rest of the campaign.
On Thursday he tackles Gerwyn Price, a man possessed on Welsh soil last time out.
He had two attempts at a 170 checkout, one of which was successful, made big strides into a nine-darter and threw some incredible clutch finishes in a performance of the highest order.
But which version of the Ice Man will turn up in Birmingham? The one who played elite level darts in Cardiff, or the one who averaged 88 the week before in Liverpool?
The bookies aren’t sure either, which is why Price is available at 11/5 with Ladbrokes and Cross is an odds-on favourite at 20/21 with MansionBet.
Snakebite Still Searching for Answers
When Peter Wright took on James Wade last week, he debuted a pair of darts unlike anything we’ve seen at the top end of the sport in quite some time.
The spring-loaded set sort of ‘twanged’ as they went in to the board, but the result was still the same as far as fans of the Scot are concerned: he was once again well-below his best in that 2-8 defeat.
Experimenting without the desired result is always a major concern, and while Wright is no stranger to an equipment change, he must be counting down the days until the Premier League is over and he can work on his game away from 8,000 or so prying eyes each week.
Trying to read his opponent, Daryl Gurney, from week-to-week is nigh on impossible. The Irishman had been in outstanding form of late, but was then fairly dismal in defeat to Suljovic in Wales. Maybe he was just the latest victim of the ‘Mensur effect’?
Either way, it could still be considered something of a fool’s errand to back Wright at 6/4 with Unibet given his current predicament, and Gurney is far more appealing at 6/5 with William Hill.
MVG Looking to Shut Down The Machine
There’s a common soundbite from James Wade just ahead of his matches with Michael van Gerwen where he says something along the lines of ‘I’m less scared about playing MVG than anybody else is.’
It’s a bold statement, given that he has lost 16 of their last 18 meetings, but it says a lot about the new-found confidence of The Machine.
And all things considered equal, we’d have normally given him half a shot against the Dutchman given how well he has been playing in 2019.
But Van Gerwen has been cranking up through the gears in recent weeks, with a 109 average in Liverpool backed by nigh-on 108 in Cardiff, and if he reaches those heights again this week he will look every inch the 4/9 favourite that he is with Bet365.
Wade, meanwhile, may just tempt some at 9/2 with William Hill.
Summary
Once again, Mensur Suljovic has the honour of opening the night’s proceedings, and surely his luck will run out if he doesn’t up his average soon. Michael Smith, despite his lowly league placing, is playing well enough to capitalise but he does tend to struggle against the Gentle, losing six of their last eight encounters. Punters might want to swerve this one.
Rob Cross is in fine fettle, but he doesn’t appeal at odds-against quotes versus the in-form Gerwyn Price. One market perhaps worth exploring here is Most 180s: Price has hit more than Cross in the Premier League to date, and yet finds himself at princely odds of 8/5 with Ladbrokes to oblige here.
There is simply no mileage in backing Peter Wright at the moment, so Daryl Gurney is almost an auto bet here, while in the final match of the night James Wade is a mind-boggling 11/5 with Coral in the Most 180s market; he too has hit more than his opponent in the Premier League thus far.