...the party starts in Leeds on Thursday night
Thursday 4 February 2016 17:40, UK
With the Premier League darts edging ever closer, Wayne Mardle takes us through his predictions for the opening night in Leeds.
The big boys are coming to the First Direct Arena with Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld just a few of the star-studded names headlining the show, and you can watch the action live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm.
Here, Sky Sports darts expert Mardle looks into his crystal ball to divulge his thoughts on some mouth-watering games ahead of us in the first week.
I think Peter Wright wins this. Making a debut is not 'it's great getting up there' - it really is nerve-jangling. I think if Peter Wright can get off to just a steady start, make Michael Smith think 'it's a little different here'. He's never played in front of nine or 10 thousand - he won't be used to it. The noise can be off-putting and I think Michael Smith needs everything to go his way. If it doesn't then I think Wright will punish him and I think he will win this game.
Whoever I talk to every week, this is going to get boring because if you ever here me say 'I don't think Michael van Gerwen is going to win' ask me what's changed. I think Michael van Gerwen wins. I think he wins every week. I don't see anyone on the planet matching him right now - not even Gary Anderson. I just think Michael van Gerwen is the best by far.
It's horrible this game. I'm trying to look inside the mind of a five-time champion that has come off the back of the World Championship playing well. Barney should be high on confidence. Phil, maybe, just maybe will be ruing the missed darts at the double against Michael van Gerwen last week [at the Masters] rather than thinking 'do you know what, I played well'. I think this is going to be tight but I'm going to have to go for a draw because I'm finding it hard to pick a winner and a draw is an outcome.
I think Lewis is going to struggle again. I like the way Gary Anderson is playing. World Champion again - he's going to be high on confidence. He'll make the play-offs and I just think this will be two points in the bag. Adrian Lewis will be in a similar position in my opinion - it'll be three weeks in and he'll be thinking 'there's always next week'. Adrian has got to add some urgency to his game during the Premier League.
I think Chisnall is playing well, I think he's happy within himself. Robert has had health issues with his foot so I'm not too sure how that is now, but I just don't think he's playing particularly well. I don't think that consistency is there but of course it can turn around, we know that. Robert Thornton went from nowhere to winning the World Grand Prix. He's back inside the world top 10 so of course he can win - I just don't think he will.
Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright are probably the two best bets of the night.
Peter Wright v Michael Smith 19.20
Michael van Gerwen v James Wade 20.20
Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld 21.00
Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis 21.45
Robert Thornton v Dave Chisnall 22.30
You can watch the opening night live on Sky Sports 1 from 7pm on Thursday, or watch without a contract on NOW TV.
We will be building up to the coverage this week on our live blog here www.skysports.com/darts and the Sky Sports app will keep you up to date with all the action.
