Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith battling for final two Premier League play-off spots; Luke Littler needs a match win in final week to guarantee top spot in table; watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports, with Finals Night on Thursday May 23
Thursday 16 May 2024 08:41, UK
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Michael van Gerwen have already qualified for the Premier League Darts play-offs - but who will join them?
Two men are vying for the final spot at London's O2 Arena on Thursday May 23 - Nathan Aspinall taking on Michael Smith in a winner-takes-all clash in Sheffield on Thursday May 16.
Gerywn Price, Rob Cross, and Peter Wright are no longer able to gatecrash the top four, with Price's elimination confirmed after he was forced to withdraw from Night 14 with a back problem.
Just one week of the regular season remains with Sheffield the place where the finalists will be decided on Thursday May 16.
Littler tightened his grip on top spot with his fourth nightly win of the season in Aberdeen on May 2, Humphries right on his tail after his nightly win in Leeds on May 9.
The teenager is now five points clear of second-placed Humphries, the only man who can stop him from finishing first in the league phase.
If Humphries were to win the remaining night in Sheffield, he would move onto 38 points. In that scenario, Littler would need a match win against Wright on the final evening to secure top position.
If he loses to Wright, and Humphries proceeded to triumph in Sheffield, and they were both locked on 38 points, then Humphries would finish top by dint of winning five nights to Littler's four.
After making it into the final on Night 15 in Leeds, the Green Machine has also clinched his spot in the finals as he sits on 27 points, two ahead of Aspinall and three ahead of Smith.
With MVG secured in that top four, we have a big battle on Night 16 in Sheffield as Aspinall and Smith's quarter-final will decide the final player to make it to the O2.
Aspinall enters the final on 25 points, Smith on 24, in a winner-takes-all bout. Smith took the win in their quarter-final in Leeds and when they come face-to-face again in the decider in Sheffield, it should bring fireworks.
Cross, Price and Wright are not part of that battle, of course, but could still have an impact on who finishes top of the table, with Wright up against Littler and Humphries against Price.
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