After an emphatic start to 2020 with an underdog victory in the World Darts Championship Final, all eyes turn to the Premier League Darts season.
The Premier League field stars Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Michael Smith, Gary Anderson, Daryl Gurney, Nathan Aspinall, and Glen Durrant.
Featuring as challengers on each of the first nine nights of darts, John Henderson, Fallon Sherrock, Jonny Clayton, William O’Connor, Luke Humphries, Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey, Jeffrey de Zwaan, and Jermaine Wattimena will all be trying to upset the league field.
Of course, one of the most highly-anticipated matches will be when Fallon Sherrock, who became an overnight star in darts by making history with her wins at the World Darts Championship, steps up to the oche. Sherrock will feature as the challenger in Week 2 (13 February) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, taking on Premier League debutant Glen Durrant.
So, of the Premier League field, who are the favourites?
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen showed that he’s not merely the ‘Green Machine’ as his billing suggests, proving that he is, indeed, human in the World Darts Championship Final. Stepping up to the okey to take on his usual whipping boy, Peter Wright, MvG simply couldn’t make up any ground on Snakebite’s ice-cold play, getting visibly more frustrated and off-form as the match reached its eventual score of 7-3.
However, that was the world stage: Van Gerwen’s forte is the Premier League. Since 2013, the Green Machine has been in the final on all seven occasions, winning five times. This year, the Dutchman’s gunning for his fifth consecutive title, with Phil Taylor, Peter Wright, Michael Smith, and Rob Cross all being left in his wake over the last four finals.
As you would assume, Michael van Gerwen is the favourite to win the Premier League at 10/11 in the darts betting, as of 11 February. That’s not to say, though, that there aren’t other viable contenders to the crown.
Peter Wright
The most in-form player in the darts world right now is Peter Wright. The always colourful Scot followed up his almighty win in the World Darts Championship Final over his arch nemesis by claiming the Masters in Milton Keynes to kick off February.
Wright just appears to have found that zone that all top-class darts players need to tap into to reach the penthouse of the sport. In the world final, he managed to run clear of Van Gerwen by continuing his almighty knack for landing 180s and being clinical to checkout.
Wright has a very tough slate to start the Premier League, facing Van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross, and Gerwyn Price in his first four games. Set as the 6/1 second-favourite, Wright will also have the tough task of beating Dutch challenger Jeffrey de Zwaan in Rotterdam.
Also in the running
While all nine of the Premier League field have the ability to usurp the favourites on any given night, the dark horses of the field are Gerwyn Price (13/2) and Gary Anderson (9/1) coming into the tournament.
Price is a man in form; the Grand Slam champion is playing great darts and has enough experience of the Premier League to be a top contender this year. Don’t call it a comeback, but Anderson looks hungry to add a third Premier League title to his mantle, only missing last year due to injury. Now, ‘The Flying Scotsman’ is back to stir things up.
Rob Cross (12/1) will be rubbing elbows with the top lot if he can rediscover his potentially devastating form, but he just seems to be a bit out of the swing of things as it stands.
The 2020 Premier League Darts has the makings of a grand tournament following an exciting start to the darts year. The Green Machine is the favourite, but don’t count out the likes of Wright, Price, and Anderson just yet.
