We are on to week seven of the 2012 Premier League Darts betting and Phil Taylor remains the only man unbeaten in the season. We are in Dublin on Thursday for this one, and the jostling for position to get inside of the top four places in the table continues. Things are pretty tight this season, with the new guys playing their part, and the dip in form of World Champion Adrian Lewis being one of the biggest surprises. There are two big clashes on the card for Dublin, with Raymond van Barneveld taking on defending Premier League champion Gary Anderson, and Phil Taylor squaring off against the in form James Wade. Here is out Premier League darts betting preview for Thursday, March 22nd.
Andy Hamilton v Simon Whitlock
After a solid start to the new season, the troubles are continuing for Premier League débutante Andy Hamilton, who has now lost three on the bounce. That has left him with just one win on the season so far, and taking on Aussie Whitlock, who pulled off a big win last week doesn’t look an easy task. Hamilton has been battling well, but just hasn’t had the finishing power there lately. Simon Whitlock delivered a big blow to defending champion Gary Anderson last week, as he beat the Scot 8-6 in a great tussle. That was a Whitlock’s second win in a row, beating double world champion Adrian Lewis the week before. So he looks to be stepping up his game and will be favourite here, and starts the week in second place in the table. Great result last week, that should give him bags of confidence and hopefully he’ll put more consistency together.
Whitlock 8/15, Hamilton 13/5, Draw 5/1 at Bet365
Adrian Lewis v Kevin Painter
Double world champion Adrian Lewis is falling behind the pace at the moment, and still hasn’t picked up a win this season yet. After drawing his first three games of the season, he has followed that up with three defeats, including last week’s demise against James Wade. There have always been questions of consistency about Lewis in a prolonged event like this but we thought that he’d gotten over it. The matches are going to get tougher now until he breaks his slump. Good chance for him here, as he takes on Kevin Painter. The Artist has been having a having a mixed season, but generally doing alright. Three wins from his six matches is pretty solid and if he can take down the out of form Lewis, then really will be doing fine and in with a good shot of a top four finish. Needs to up his three dart average just a bit, but this could be a close match.
Lewis 4/6, Painter 12/5, Draw 5/1 at Boylesports
Raymond van Barneveld v Gary Anderson
Big Dutchman RVB got himself back on track last week after a couple of defeats. Barneveld has now won two, drawn two and lost two and is on six points with three other players. He has the second highest three dart average in the Premier League this season, so scoring well, just hasn’t quite had that clinical edge. His match against Gary Anderson on Thursday will be the big highlight, because it should be a heavy scoring affair. Scot Gary Anderson suffered a shock defeat last week, just as he was on a good roll of three straight wins. He went down against Simon Whitlock, and now needs to find a response this week. But this is a tough match to pull himself together for, as it really should be heavyweight affair. Should be a great one, but Barneveld is scoring heavier than Anderson at the moment.
Anderson 5/4, Barneveld 6/4, Draw 9/2 at Paddy Power
Phil Taylor v James Wade
The Power continued his unbeaten start to the season, with yet another win last week. It was a comfortable 8-3 victory over Andy Hamilton and Phil Taylor just looks untouchable at the moment. He is power personified, scoring so heavily, and just one of his six matches so far have ended under a 100 three dart average. James Wade continued his turnaround in good form last week in Exeter, as he rattled off an 8-6 win over Kevin Painter. That was his third win in a row and that is the momentum needed to take on Taylor. However, Wade has always struggled to match Taylor and because Taylor has the darts here, he will be strong favourite to keep going at the top of the league.
Taylor 1/3, Wade 9/2, Draw 11/2 at Bet Victor
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