Premier League Darts: Predictions for Night 9 and the Overall Winner

When it comes to prestigious darting events, you will not find many that are more prestigious than the Premier League of Darts. This is a competition that all players want to win at least once in their life, and this is not surprising since the winner walks away with a cheque of £275,000. Night Nine is fast approaching, and below we are going to give you our prediction for every match and the player that we think will win the competition outright.

💯 Favourites to Win the 2022 Tournament

So, above we have provided you with our prediction as to who will win the four quarter-finals on Night Nine and then go on to win the whole night, and now we are going to take a bit of time to tell you who we think will go on to win the whole tournament and pick up the huge cheque and trophy.

✅ Michael van Gerwen

Even those of you among us who do not follow darts religiously or have even just only started getting involved in the world of darts will more than likely have heard of Michael van Gerwen as he is widely regarded as one of the best darts players ever. He has won all of the major events on numerous occasions, but it is fair to say that, by his unusually high standards, he had a really disappointing 2021. He won his first major PDC Premier Event back in 2012, and last year was the first season that he failed to win a single title since then. The 2016 season was his most successful, winning 9 major titles and reaching two other finals.

In the two major events that he has played this year, he was knocked out in the Third Round in the first and the Fifth Round in the second. Despite his clear lack of form, the bookies have him as the favourite to win the Premier League of Darts, and none of the other participants will be that eager to face him because if he finds his form, and he will at some point, he will be practically impossible to stop. Below you can see the odds that the top bookies are offering for him to win.

✅ Gerwyn Price

Gerwyn Price used to be a rugby player, but then he decided to give that up and start playing darts professionally instead. This could have been a decision that he would come to regret, but it will not be as he has already had a lot of success playing darts. In 2021, he lifted the Grand Slam of Darts and the PDC World Championship titles, and also made it to the semi-finals of The Masters, UK Open, and the PDC World Cup of Darts. At the current moment in time, he is ranked 2nd in the world.

On February 17th, which was Night Three of the Premier League of Darts, he landed two nine-dart finishes against James Wade and Michael van Gerwen. It is quite a rare feat for a player to hit a nine-dart finish in a tournament, let alone two in the same night. When it comes to the odds that are on offer for him to win the whole event, he is the second favourite with the bookies, and the odds that you can find for him to win the event can be seen in the table below.

✅ Peter Wright

While it is clear that van Gerwen has struggled over the last year or so, we ca say the complete opposite for Peter Wright. The Englishman who now represents Scotland won three major titles in 2021, including the Players Championship Finals, the World Matchplay, and the PDC World Cup of Darts, and he started his 2022 with a big bang by landing the PDC World Championship title at the start of the year. Thanks to all his recent successes, he is now the number 1 darts players in the world. To date, he has not won the Premier League of Darts and, with the form that he has been in lately, he will strongly believe that now is his best opportunity to break this duck.

If you want to put a bet on Wright to win his very first Premier League title, then what are the type of odds that you will find at all of the best bookies? Well, have a look at the following table, and we are pretty sure that your curiosity will be fully satisfied.

✅ Jonny Clayton

Jonny Clayton is one other player that had a 2021 that he will remember for a long while since the won the World Series of Darts, the World Grand Prix, the Premier League Darts, and The Masters. In 2022, he put in another really strong performance in The Masters, but was eliminated in the semi-finals, and he will be hoping that he has what it takes to retain his Premier League title. He is currently ranked as the world's 9th best darts player, and is participating in the 2022 Premier League of Darts due to the fact that he is the current champion.

So, what do the best bookies think about his chances of winning the title? Well, check out the odds below and all will be revealed:

✅ Michael Smith

Michael Smith is considered by many on the circuit to be one of the best players, and the fact that he is now ranked as the 3rd best player proves their point. However, despite this quality, he has not yet won a major darts event, always falling at the last hurdle. For instance, in 2022, he was the runner-up at the UK Open and the PDC World Championship. It is obvious that he has some kind of mental block, and he just needs to win one major event to put this block at the back of his mind and crack on with winning the trophies that we all know he is fully capable of winning.

However, as can be seen from the table below, the best bookies are not giving him much hope of breaking this duck during the 2022 Premier League of darts.

✅ Joe Cullen

Joe Cullen is another top-quality player that has the ability to beat all the top players in the darts world, although he will be the first to admit that he had a pretty average 2021 as his best finish was a semi-final spot in the European Championship. However, his 2022 has already been a lot better than his 2021 as he lifted The Masters title. Now that he has managed to get his first huge title, he will be thinking that he has what it takes to add the Premier League of Darts title to his trophy cabinet as well.

If you like a risk and enjoy putting money on players that have an outside chance of winning, then you are probably wondering what the odds are for Cullen to claim the Premier League title. If you are, then you should check out the odds on offer in the table below:

✅ Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson is yet another darts player that you will have heard of even if you are not that big of a darts fan. Despite the fact that he has been around for a long time, he would probably be one of the first to admit that he has not won as much as he would have hoped throughout his career. At the time of writing, he has nine big PDC events to his name, which is not too bad, but a player that has his capability should win much more. The last PDC event that he won was the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts, and he will be looking to win his first time in the space of three years.

The bookies do not really rate his chances of lifting the title though, which is clear from the odds that they are offering. You can see the odds on offer for Anderson to win the title in the table below:

✅ James Wade

James Wade is yet another player that has been on the circuit for what seems like eternity, and throughout his darts career he has picked up 10 titles, with his last big winning coming back in 2021 when he won the UK Open. Last year, he also made it to the semi-final of the PDC World Cup of Darts and the Grand Slam of Darts, and this year he made it to the PDC World Championship and the UK Open quarter-final.

In the following table, you will see the odds that the best bookmakers are offering for Wade to lift the trophy at the end of the Premier League of Darts.

🎯 The Match Predictions on Night Nine

Below we take a look at the four quarter-finals that will take part on Night Nine of the Premier League of Darts. We have given you our prediction as to who we think might go on to win each match.

1️⃣ Michael Smith vs Peter Wright

The first match of the night sees Michael Smith take on Peter Wright, and a quick look at the odds that are on offer at Bet365 will inform you that they think that Wright will go on to win this game. They have given the Scotsman odds of 1.73 to win the match, while the Englishman has odds of 2.10 to go on to win and advance to the semi-finals. You will find similar odds with other top bookies such as Betway and Unibet.

So, do we agree with the bookmakers on this one? Yes, we do since Wright is leading the head-to-head record 13-5 and is in better form than his opponent. Smith has been knocked out in the first match during the last two nights, so he will be eager to make it to the semi-finals this time around but, unfortunately for him, we do not see him beating Wright.

2️⃣ Gary Anderson vs Michael van Gerwen

The second match of the evening will see Gary Anderson play against Michael van Gerwen, and the bookmakers have the Dutchman as the clear favourite to beat the Scotsman and make it through to the semi-finals. For instance, the likes of Bet365, Betway, and Betfair all have van Gerwen at odds of 1.53 to advance to the semi-finals.

When it comes to the head-to-head record, van Gerwen is way out in front with 14 wins to Anderson's 5. Both of these players had a poor Night 8, getting knocked out in their first match - van Gerwen was beaten 6-2 by James Wade, while Gary Anderson was beaten 6-5 by Wright. So, one of these players has to lose their match once again, and we think that this player will be Anderson.

3️⃣ Joe Cullen vs Jonny Clayton

The third match of Night Nine is going to be between Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton, and the bookmakers' favourite to go on and win this match is Clayton. For example, Ladbrokes have Clayton at odds of 1.57 to win the match, while other top bookies such as Betway and Bet365 have him at odds of 1.66 to win. On the other hand, the same bookies have Cullen at odds of 2.37 and 2.20 to advance to the semi-finals.

When it comes to the head-to-head record between these two players, it is a tie with 4 wins each. Clayton was in fine form on Night 9, beating Michael Smith 6-1, Peter Wright 6-4, and James Wade 6-1 in the final. Joe Cullen, on the other hand, managed to beat Gerwyn Price 6-3 in quarter-finals but was then knocked out 6-2 by Wade in the semi-finals. This time around we think that Cullen will be knocked out in this first match against Clayton, considering the form that he is currently in.

4️⃣ James Wade vs Gerwyn Price

The final quarter-final of the night is between Gerwyn Price and James Wade, and the bookmakers have the latter as the favourite to go on and make it through to the semi-finals. For example, Betway, Betfair, and Ladbrokes all have Price at odds of 1.53 to make it to the semi-finals, while they have attached odds of 2.50 to Wade's chances of making it through to the next round.

When it comes to their head-to-head record, Wade is leading the way with 10 wins to Price's five, and despite the fact that Wade made it to the final on Night Nine while Price was knocked out in his first match, we think that Price will make it 10-6 in the head-to-head record.

🏁 Overall Winner of Night Nine

So, from our above predictions, we feel that Wright, van Gerwen, Price, and Clayton will be the four that will make it through to the Semi-Finals on Night Nine. If our predictions are correct, then the first Semi-Final of Night Nine will see Wright take on van Gerwen, while the second Semi-Final of the night will see Clayton take on Price. From these two Semi-Final matches, we think that Wright and Clayton will go on to win, and a final between these two players will never be easy to call. Nevertheless, we have to provide you with our prediction and cannot sit on the fence, so we would put our money on

🏆 Our Overall Winner of the Premier League of Darts

So, who do we think will go on to lift the Premier League of Darts title? Do we feel that the bookies are correct and that Michael van Gerwen will win his 6th Premier League trophy, or will someone else defy the odds and lift the title?

Well, after eight nights of action, van Gerwen is looking pretty solid, and something out of this world would probably have to happen for the Ducthman not to make it to the Play-Off semi-finals. During the Play-Offs, anyone truly can beat anyone, but we do feel that van Gerwen will live up to the favourite tag and claim the Premier League of Darts title.

📑 Format of the Tournament

We know that some of you who are reading this might be new to the world of darts betting, which is the reason why we are now going to take a bit of time to explain the format that this competition uses. It is vital to know that format that is being used before you dive in and start placing a bet on any sport event.

At the start of 2022, the PDC announced that there would be a new format for the Premier League competition. The event used to be a Round Robin tournament, but in 2022 it will be an eight-person knockout bracket every night. Each night will be made up of seven games, and each game will be the first to six legs, or the best of 11.

In weeks one to seven, the players will be guaranteed to meet the other seven players once in the quarter-final games, and once in the weeks marked as 9-15. On the other hand, weeks 8 and 16 will be drawn on the league standings at that current moment in time. Players will receive two points for making it through to the semi-finals, three for finishing second, and five points for winning the whole night.

Once the 16 nights have all been completed, the top four in the table will qualify for the Play-Off semi-finals, with the player that finishes 1st taking on the player that finishes 4th and the player that finishes 2nd taking on the player that comes 4th.

🏅 The Participants Playing in the 2022 Premier League

It uses to be that the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit after the PDC World Darts Championship at the start of each year, would be joined by six invited players in the Premier League of Darts. However, when the new format was announced at the start of the year, it was also announced that only eight players will be participating this time around.

The eight players that will be playing in the 2022 Premier League were announced at the end of January, with the top 6 players in the PDC Order of Merit being joined in the competition by Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton, who is the reigning champion. The Premier League used to have a relegation system and a "Judgement Night", but neither of these will exist in the 2022 competition.