Premier League darts betting tips: It’s do or die for Michael van Gerwen in Sheffield

This is it for Michael van Gerwen. If he defeats Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-final and wins night 16 in Sheffield, he will make the playoffs by the skin of his teeth.

Lose to the Englishman, however, and the three-time world champion, who dominated for so long in the 2010’s, will miss out on the O2 showpiece finals for only the second time in his career.

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This game will be the focus in the city of steel, with Gerwen Price, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries all sealing their playoff spots ahead of the final evening.

For Rob Cross, it has been a disappointing campaign. Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting also have just pride to play for this week.

Everyone will be tuned into seeing whether Van Gerwen can make amends for a poor campaign thus far.

Quarter-final fixtures for night 16 in Sheffield

Luke Littler vs Stephen Bunting

Nathan Aspinall vs Michael van Gerwen

Luke Humphries vs Rob Cross

Gerwyn Price vs Chris Dobey

Key talking points: Nathan Aspinall will be looking to make it back-to-back wins

Aspinall claimed his second nightly crown in Aberdeen last week, defeating Van Gerwen, Bunting and Dobey. It perhaps wasn’t the most taxing set of fixtures, but it will give him a major confidence boost heading into this week.

The Dutchman hit just two 180s and was successful with just three of his seven checkout attempts against the ‘Asp’ last week. He will be determined to improve these statistics in Sheffield.

Littler wont be putting any pressure on himself against Bunting, especially as he has secured top spot in the group. 

The teenager has scored more 180s in 22 of his 34 games this season – a success rate of 65% - while he also has registered the highest average (102.77) in the Premier League this year.

Bunting will be hoping for a similar sort of performance that saw him defeat Price 6-4 last week. If he is hoping to win his second match against Littler in 2025, he will have to improve in certain areas.

Against the Welshman, Bunting could only average 94.82. In comparison, he averaged 106.43 and succeeded with 50% of his checkouts during his win over the 18-year-old last month.

Like Littler, Humphries will be relaxed going into his clash against Cross. The 2024 world champion knows that he will avoid the teenager until the final at the playoffs next week and this will be an ideal tune-up.

He has won two of his three meetings with Cross this season and with the ‘Voltage’ suffering an agonising loss to Dobey last week, Humphries should pile more pain on the former world champion.

There is still some jeopardy which makes the Premier League darts perfect to bet on. The final quarter-final tie could well be the most entertaining. Since Dobey won their quarter-final match at the World Championship, Price has claimed victory in three of the subsequent four games.

Indeed, the last two have been thrashing. The Welshman won 6-2 on night 9, recording four 180s in the process. Three weeks later, he sealed another 6-2 victory while registering an impressive 106.74 average and finishing with five 180s.

Another display like this and he will make yet another semi-final. That's a certainty.

FIRST’s top tip for Premier League Darts night 16

Given the fact Price is safely through to the playoffs and can relax against Dobey, combined with his superior head-to-head record, siding with Price to defeat Dobey at 8/11 with BetMGM is FIRST’s top tip of the night.

Pick: Gerwen Price to beat Chris Dobey - 8/11 (BetMGM)

Extra tips

Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall over 9.5 legs – 17/20 (BetMGM)

This prediction missed by a single leg last week. With the match set to be a tense affair with both players giving nothing away, expect it to be closer than it was in Aberdeen.

Stephen Bunting to score over 2.5 180s – 1/2 (BetMGM)

In the Premier League this season, Bunting averages 2.86 180s per game. Knowing that there is nothing to play for against Littler, he will be much more relaxed.

Premier League darts league table

Odds correct at the time of writing.