Premier League: Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall and Robert Thornton are scrapping for survival
Saturday 2 April 2016 14:30, UK
Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall and Robert Thornton are fighting against elimination from the Premier League on 'Judgement Night'.
The bottom two in the table will be eliminated and only one player from the struggling trio will survive in Cardiff on Thursday night, live on Sky Sports.
This week's line-up also includes a clash between leader Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld, in a repeat of their World Championship thriller.
James Wade v Gary Anderson
Anderson continued his red-hot run with his 7-4 win over Chisnall, and will be searching for a seventh successive victory over the returning Wade.
The defending champion suffered a shock exit in Germany, falling to a 6-0 loss to Joe Cullen in under 10 minutes, but has shown few signs of vulnerability in the Premier League.
Wade sat out last week after a double-header earlier in the campaign, but favourable results mean he has not lost too much ground in the play-off hunt.
Michael Smith v Phil Taylor
Smith has been left in a desperate position at the foot of the table following last week's defeat to fellow struggler Thornton.
'Bully Boy' badly needs a win and favourable results to keep him in the competition, although he can perhaps draw some confidence from his performance at the German Masters, which saw him reach the semi-finals.
But Taylor, who decided to avoid the trip to Europe, will show no mercy to Smith as he hunts top spot in the table
Dave Chisnall v Peter Wright
Chisnall needs at least a point from the opening clash against Wright to keep alive his hopes of avoiding an early exit.
The St Helens man reached last year's play-off night, but he has failed to pick up a win since the opening week of the current campaign.
Wright, in contrast, has maintained a high standard and was only narrowly beaten by Van Gerwen in this Monday's German Masters final.
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Robert Thornton v Adrian Lewis
Thornton dramatically changed his fortunes last week, claiming his first win of the campaign against Smith, and then held Van Gerwen to a battling draw.
Those precious three points could be good enough to spare Thornton, who can watch drop rivals Chisnall and Smith before his match with Lewis.
'Jackpot' boosted his hopes of a top-four finish with a narrow win over Raymond van Barneveld, leaving Lewis just two points off top spot.
Raymond van Barneveld v Michael van Gerwen
Van Barneveld claimed a memorable 4-3 victory over Van Gerwen when the two Dutch stars shared the stage at Alexandra Palace in December.
There was more title success for 'Mighty Mike' this week when he retained the German Masters trophy, but the world No 1 has been held to back-to-back draws in the Premier League.
'Barney' relishes the big-match atmosphere and the 48-year-old will be determined to produce another vintage display against Van Gerwen.
