Premier League Darts - 'Superchin' offers us maximum value

Darts guru Ben Levene (@benlevene96) looks ahead to week three of the Premier League of Darts.

Daryl Gurney v Gerwyn Price| Thursday 15th February 2018, 20:00 | Sky Sports

Daryl Gurney has hit the most 180’s so far in the Premier League this year. Superchin has hit eight maximums across 23 legs in his two-matches, giving a rate of 0.35 per-leg.

To contrast, Gerwyn Price has hit four 180’s across 22 legs in the competition, at a rate of 0.18 per-leg.

I do think Price is a better maximum hitter than his numbers suggest. Part of that is down to The Iceman’s inexperience at the top level and on television.

Only the top three players in the world hit more 180’s than Daryl Gurney in 2017, and they all played more games.

Gurney has been throwing some decent stuff on the floor, at UK Open Qualifiers over the past couple of weekends. He reached the final of Sunday’s tournament, and ended the series of qualifiers as the fifth-ranked player. He averaged over 100 in defeat to Michael Smith last Thursday, so the scoring is there, although he is still not at his exceptional 2017 level.

If we look at televised leg play events at the end of 2017, Gurney hit maximums at a rate of 0.33 and 0.38 per-leg at the Players Championship Finals’ and Grand Slam. He’s been producing consistent numbers for a decent length of time now, and his scoring in the Premier League so far this year fits in with that.

Price’s over the top antics clearly rattle Gurney, as the Iceman has won six of seven meetings between the pair, including a 10-7 victory at the Masters last month. But like we’ve mentioned, Price is still adjusting to life at the top level, whereas Gurney has already won a TV major.

The 7/4 for Gurney win and hit the most 180’s tempts me, but the poor head-to-head record with Price puts me off. I'll probably have a small stake between now and Thursday, but in the meantime it makes sense to go with the numbers and back Superchin to win the maximum count at 3/4.