2024 BetMGM Premier League Darts: Night 11 Preview
Last week the world watched Luke Littler earn back-to-back Premier League nightly wins which saw him go top of the league table heading into Week 11 in Birmingham.
Littler is up against Rob Cross, who hasn’t won a game in the competition since Week 6 in Brighton. Cross was in the play-off hunt and in good spirits but the lack of points on the board has seen him fall down to 6th.
With fellow debutant Luke Humphries only a point behind Littler, he will be looking at getting back into the swing of things having not been able to add any further points to his tally in the last two weeks.
He takes on a slowly coming back to form Peter Wright, but the previous two meetings between the both has seen Humphries dominate 6-1 with a 106 average on both occasions.
Last week in Manchester saw Wright miss out on progressing through to the semi-finals, but averaged almost 110 over 10 legs – a standard he is hoping to keep playing at for the rest of the competition if he was to stand any chance of making it to finals-night.
Gerwyn Price’s much needed run to the final last week closes the gap to those ahead of him, as he will be looking to defeat Michael Smith this evening who is closing in on the top 4 to put himself through to finals-night.
Smith has been in steady form leading up to this encounter and is the closest threat to those in the top 4, therefore a win for either player is crucial to build momentum in the closing stages of the league phase.
The last quarter-final clash is between Nathan Aspinall and Michael Van Gerwen, in a battle between 3rd vs 4th. Aspinall’s quarter-final win last week meant he overtook the Dutchman.
It’s fair to say Michael Van Gerwen hasn’t been performing to the heights that we know he can. Having won only 1 match since his week 4 success it has indicated a serious suggestion in his downturn in form. While his shoulder injury has been a factor, it is urgent for him to pick up points fast with the weeks flying by.
Aspinall’s return to the Premier League has seen him relish it. A tough start where he couldn’t pick up a win in his first three weeks put him in the bottom two. With a first win and set of points on the board in Week 4, he has sprung into life to add solid consistent points to his tally each night since except on one occasion.
The Price vs Smith and Aspinall vs Van Gerwen battles early on could see a massive shift in the table, with potential outcomes being the gap closing together as they all look to solidify their place in the top 4.