DARTS expert expert Kyle Brown (@Kyleianbrown) talks us through the 13th week of Premier League action, picking out his favourite fancies.
Week 13 – Thursday 2nd May 2019 | Manchester | Sky Sports
- Rob Cross (1/1 Boylesports) v Michael Smith (9/4 Betfair)
- Peter Wright (21/10 Bet365) v Mensur Suljovic (1/1 Coral)
- Daryl Gurney (11/2 Betway) v Michael van Gerwen (4/11 Betway)
- James Wade (13/10 Betfair) v Gerwyn Price (13/8 Boylesports)
*Predicted winners in bold, neither indicates draw.
The Week 13 Betting Angles
My recommendations from Thursday night all come from the opening game as it has by far the best value of any odds offered on the night.
World number two, Rob Cross, is even-money (Boylesports) to beat Michael Smith, who has won just two of his last 12 matches. That record includes two opening round losses in the European Darts Tour (1 & 3) to Krzysztof Ratajski and Ricky Evans – both ranked outside the world top 40.
In fact, you have to go back to 27th March for Smith’s last competitive victory, an astonishing length of time for any Premier League player.
Smith is effectively eliminated from this year'sPremier League while Cross is just one point behind league leader Michael van Gerwen. Current form and league standings suggest nothing but a Cross victory; and if you dig deeper into the stats you won’t find much to sway your mind either.
Cross can claim the league's second-best 3-dart average of 99.80, compared to Smith’s 96.86. Smith does lead the 180 category 48 to 39, but the high-scoring hasn’t yielded many results this year due to Smith’s inability to hit a double when required. He has often went inside of the wire and found himself chasing around the board, and his opponents have capitalised.
And if any opponent will punish Smith on doubles, it will be Cross. He has a weekly high checkout of 109.08 (second in the league) and has hit a 100+ checkout in all but three of his matches this campaign.
Smith looks completely finished with this season. With nothing left to play for, it’s evident when watching his play that he isn’t completely committed to the match and would rather be looking ahead to future events in the PDC tour card.
As a fan of Smith it’s been frustrating to watch, but I’ve no doubt his game will be back to its best in the coming months.
Still fighting for what would be a very deserved first place finish, I can’t see anything other than Cross beating Smith, and beating him well. Even-money is too good to pass up on and I've also spied two other strands of attack to consider in Manchester below.
Best Bets
Rob Cross v Michael Smith – Rob Cross to win (1/1 Boylesports)
Rob Cross v Michael Smith – Two or more 100+ checkouts in the match (8/11 SkyBet)
Rob Cross v Michael Smith – Rob Cross win, Michael Smith most 180’s, Rob Cross highest checkout (7/1 SkyBet)
