All Aboard The Lewis Express To Bournemouth

After a blistering start to the Premier League in Leeds, the roadshow now rolls on to Bournemouth for another set of mouth-watering fixtures…

Peter Wright v Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson kicked off the new Premier League campaign with a 7-5 win over Phil Taylor in Leeds last week, but the newly-crowned World Champion was quick to admit that he was slightly fortunate and a long way from being at his best.

The Scotsman is quite an unassuming character and I’m not sure that the duties that come with being world champion will be beneficial to his game. He’s already stated that he has had very little time for practice in the past month, and even missed a couple of the UK Open qualifiers at the weekend. If you’re not putting in the hours on the practice board then you’ll soon be found out at this level.

Fortunately for Anderson, this Thursday he comes up against a player that is yet to click into gear this year in the shape of Peter Wright. Snakebite was poor against Dave Chisnall last week and did little of note in the weekend’s UK Open qualifiers. Back Anderson to win at odds of 4/7.

Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen’s reaction to losing his world title has been nothing short of immense. He began the season by claiming the Masters title, then obliterated Kim Huybrechts in the Premier League last Thursday with a 107 average, and then went on to take the title in two of the weekend’s three UK Open qualifiers, losing to Adrian Lewis in the final of the other.

Since his 6-3 defeat to Gary Anderson in the semi-finals at Ally Pally, MVG has won 25 of the 26 matches he has played. Quite simply: brilliant!

Stephen Bunting began his Premier League life with an amicable draw against James Wade, but didn’t enjoy much success in the weekend’s events and was dismantled by MVG at the last-16 stage on Sunday. Add the Dutchman to your accumulator at odds of 11/20.

Adrian Lewis v Phil Taylor
Adrian Lewis was inspired in his emphatic 7-1 win against Barney last week, with Jackpot averaging a colossus 113.80 and hitting five 180s (in just eight legs of darts). He followed that up with a win against MVG in Friday’s UK Open qualifier final a day later and then went on to reach a quarter-final and semi-final later in the week.

When Lewis puts in the necessary hours on the practice board, as he is at the moment, he is pretty much unstoppable.

Phil Taylor, on the other hand, is not at his best right now. It took him a while to get going in last year’s Premier League, and although he averaged over a 100 last week against Anderson, he could see this season follow a similar pattern. Backing Lewis to win this match at odds of 6/4 is the bet of the night.

James Wade v Kim Huybrechts
Kim Huybrechts was given a brutal Premier League baptism last week as he ran into an in-form Michael van Gerwen. This week provides a different test, but one that will be equally as difficult to overcome.

James Wade surprisingly relinquished an advantage that he had worked so hard to carve out against Bunting last week and lost the final leg of the match to end up with only a point to his name. This week I doubt he will be quite so forgiving.

The Machine had some success at the weekend in reaching the final on Sunday, and can get his first win on the board against Huybrechts here. Back Wade to win at odds of 19/20.

Dave Chisnall v Raymond van Barneveld
Barney could do little to halt the Adrian Lewis express last week, and this Thursday comes up against another in-form player in Dave Chisnall. As good as Lewis was in Leeds, Barney was equally poor, averaging just 85.68. If he plays the same way this week, then he’ll find himself winless going into week three.

Chizzy was solid enough in his win against Peter Wright, but missed a lot of darts at doubles throughout the match. And there were some disconcerting results in the weekend’s UK Open qualifiers. I’m leaning towards Chisnall in the betting here at odds of 11/8, but perhaps the Draw at odds of 7/2 is the best play.