Premier League Darts hits Exeter on Thursday - watch live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm
Thursday 28 February 2019 20:45, UK
Premier League Darts is back on Thursday night, live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event, featuring the clash between Michael van Gerwen and James Wade. Wayne Mardle looks into his crystal ball...
Van Gerwen is aiming to maintain his advantage at the top of the table as the tournament returns to the West Country.
Gerwyn Price takes on Contender Luke Humphries, while 2017 Premier League finalist Wright meets Mensur Suljovic, and Northern Ireland's Gurney takes on world No 2 Rob Cross.
The night's final game sees 2014 Premier League champion Raymond van Barneveld making his Exeter farewell as he plays Michael Smith.
Wayne runs the rule over five titanic tungsten contests, live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm.
I think Gerwyn Price is a much better player than what people think of him. He's in the form of his life and it's hard to ever think he's going to lose. I just think that he's going to play to a certain standard and he's going to be very, very difficult to beat for Luke.
Luke since the Worlds has not played great. Maybe there's an air of expectation on his own shoulders that he's put there. We know what Luke can do and this is a format that if he's going to beat the big boy then this could be it.
Price did well to get a draw against James Wade last week and won two Tour events back-to-back playing brilliantly and he's full of confidence.
Wayne's score prediction: 4-7
Rob Cross was more disappointed than I was last week, he just did not settle against Michael van Gerwen and he was lucky to get away with two legs. That would have hurt Rob because he's been playing some real decent stuff but that said Daryl Gurney has looked as good as anyone.
He's looked cool, calm and composed although sometimes he can look a little flustered, but he has not looked that at all. Away from the big stage he has been playing pretty average to be fair, but we know that when he plays well he wins. He is someone that has become seasoned. He now knows what to expect week in, week out, year in, year out so it's a case of 'I don't need to play well in a Tour event or go to a Pro Tour event if I'm going to play well in the big ones'.
Wayne's score prediction: 7-5
Mensur is playing a lot better than Peter Wright and I'm not liking the way Peter is playing at all. Some matches he's played this year he's looked fantastic for three or four legs before going off. He has not played a match where he's played well all the way through yet and it's not the longest of formats. His ups and downs are just so differing - he just has no consistency.
I'm going to stick with Mensur here just because I think that he just has that little bit more confidence than Wright.
Wayne's score prediction: 7-5
The one thing that you are going to get from people playing Van Gerwen is good odds. All these players that can beat Michael on any given day are fantastic odds.
I do not fancy James Wade at all because Michael has won 16 out of the last 17 and I am sure Wade knows that as well. But a bit like Daryl Gurney I think James is playing some fantastic stuff. I have been really impressed with his play, but it's Michael van Gerwen, it's kind of Phil Taylor all over again here. We are looking for someone to give him a game but you just cannot see it. I do not see anyone stopping him.
Wayne's score prediction: 7-4
I do not know how Smith is going to perform after his procedure, but what we have got a clue about is that Barney is not playing well. He's scrapped two draws that were highly unlikely but he's hanging in there.
Barney played well in the first week but got beat by James Wade and he has not played well since. Last week when he came off the stage he said 'I can't wait until I start playing well'. I don't know if this is the week when he starts playing well.
I'm going to go for Michael Smith purely because he is not bothered by what's happened to him in the last couple of days.
Wayne's score prediction: 7-5
The Premier League heads to the Westpoint Arena, Exeter on Thursday, February 28. You can also stay up to date with all the action by following us @SkySportsDarts and get all the latest news, previews and interviews www.skysports.com/darts
