With Gerwyn Price and Mensur Suljovic suffering elimination last week in the Premier League Darts, we are now left with eight players fighting it out for glory in the showpiece event, and it's reigning champion Michael van Gerwen that will head into the next batch of fixtures topping the table, but over the next few weeks there are sure to be a whole host of thrills and spills, with only the top four qualifying for the Finals Night at London's O2 Arena.
The Premier League juggernaut will head to Yorkshire on Thursday and the action will take place at the FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, and as we get down to the final eight it will see every week two players stepping up to the oche on two occasions, and this week will see the turn of Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright that will have four points up for grabs on what should be another enthralling evening of darting action.
van Barneveld will featuring in the first match of the night, as he looks to bounce back from a 7-0 whitewash at the hands of Michael Smith last week, and the Dutchman will face Daryl Gurney, who has not lost in his last five matches, and having made a slow start to his Premier League debut has just started to sparkle in the event, and he will be aiming to continue his fine form and heap more misery on an out-of-form van Barneveld.
Gary Anderson's fine run came to abrupt halt last week as the Flying Scotsman lost narrowly to Rob Cross, but the Flying Scotsman will be favourite for his clash with Peter Wright, as Snakebite, who escaped elimination last week, has been struggling form throughout this competition, and while he picked up a draw last week, will need to improve immeasurably to down his fellow Scottish counterpart.
So here's how the @unibet Premier League table shapes up following Judgement Night!
A huge night for Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld down the wrong end of the table!
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Eight wins in nine matches has propelled van Gerwen to the top of the table, and last year's Premier League hero will start a red-hot favourite against Simon Whitlock, who returned to winning ways last week, but the Wizard, who is currently sitting in fourth place, will find it tough against van Gerwen, who has been the dominant figure over the last couple of months, and it's going to be a gargantuan task for Whitlock to down the world number one.
Arguably, the most intriguing match of the night will be the penultimate one on the stage as the aforementioned Cross will take on Premier League surprise package Michael Smith, who is currently two points ahead of Cross in the table, and only two points off van Gerwen, and fresh from his demolition of van Barneveld last week, Bully Boy will aim to cement second spot over Cross, who has won four of his last five matches.
The final match of the night will see van Barneveld and Wright take to the oche for the second time, and with both players struggling for consistency this year then it's a must-win game for the pair of them, and having sampled the atmosphere earlier in the evening they will be eager to try and end the night with a win and give their top-four chances a huge boost.
2018 Unibet Premier League
Nights Ten Fixtures
The FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
Raymond van Barneveld v Daryl Gurney
Gary Anderson v Peter Wright
Simon Whitlock v Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Wright
