A mouth-watering darting double-header will take centre stage at Rotterdam on Wednesday and Thursday night, as the Premier League Darts will take place in front of sold-out crowds on back-to-back nights in the Netherlands. Having lost a week's action due to the inclement weather in Exeter a few weeks ago, the Premier League is playing catch-up, as the quest for a top-four spot and a place in the Finals Night at the O2 Arena hots up, and the Dutch city will see the elite players take to the oche on Wednesday evening, and 24 hours later the action will take place again, as the final eight players aim to grab some vital points.
Michael van Gerwen heads to Rotterdam four points clear at the top of the table as he cruised past Simon Whitlock last week, and has now racked up nine wins out of his ten matches, and while he will face the out-of-form Peter Wright on Wednesday night, it will be his clash with fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld on Thursday night that will be arguably the showpiece match of the two-day extravaganza, and with van Barneveld having lost his last four matches then he will be desperate for at least a point, and he will head into Thursday's match on the back of a tie with the aforementioned Whitlock on Wednesday.
Michael Smith and Rob Cross are the closest two pursuers to van Gerwen at the top of the table, as they head to Rotterdam on 14 points, and Smith will face a tough test on Wednesday against Gary Anderson, while Bully Boy will take on Simon Whitlock on Thursday night. World champion Cross has settled into the Premier League format after a shaky start, and he will take to the stage twice on Wednesday against Daryl Gurney and Gary Anderson, while Voltage will do battle with Wright the following day.
Former Premier League winner Anderson has pulled himself into the top-four in recent weeks, and on the back of three wins in four matches, the Flying Scotsman will be hoping to return from Rotterdam still on the top-four, and he will play three matches over the two days, and it could be a huge week for the Scot, who will be one of the dangers to van Gerwen, if he can secure a top-four spot in the coming weeks.
Daryl Gurney (11 points), Simon Whitlock (10 points) Raymond van Barneveld (8 points) and Peter Wright (8 points) will know they need to start picking up wins in the closing weeks of the season, if they are to grab a play-off spot, but they will feel they need to win at least one game over the coming two day's action, if they are to try and break into the top-four.
One thing is for sure, it's set to be an epic couple of day's in the 2018 Unibet Premier League!
Night 11 Fixtures - April 18
Rotterdam Ahoy
Michael Smith v Gary Anderson
Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
Raymond van Barneveld v Simon Whitlock
Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen
Rob Cross v Gary Anderson
Night 12 Fixtures - April 19
Rotterdam Ahoy
Simon Whitlock v Michael Smith
Daryl Gurney v Gary Anderson
Rob Cross v Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
Daryl Gurney v Simon Whitlock
