Premier League Darts night 14 tips and predictions: Luke Littler to continue hot streak

The Nuke has been the talk of the town this week after a dominant win in Liverpool, which was backed up by an excellent victory in the Austrian Darts Open. 

Littler is the one to beat in Aberdeen and could secure his spot in the play-offs with two weeks to spare if he betters Michael Smith's result on Thursday night. 

The 17-year-old will face his good mate Nathan Aspinall in the night's second quarter-final, The Asp has been in great form in recent weeks, picking up 12 points from the last five nights including a night victory in Rotterdam.

Meanwhile, Gerwyn Price will be absent from this week's action as he has a back injury and as a result he will pick up no points in the race for the top four.

The night opens with a key clash for Smith as he looks to close the gap on the top four with a win against Peter Wright.

In the other half of the draw Michael Van Gerwen takes on last week's losing finalist Rob Cross, with the winner of that one clashing with world champion Luke Humphries in the semi-final as he gets a bye due to Price pulling out of tonight's action.

 

Night 14 quarter-finals (1900 BST)

Peter Wright vs Michael Smith 

Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall

Michael Van Gerwen vs Rob Cross

 

In the opening tungsten tussle of the night, bottom-of-the-table Wright takes on play-off chasing Smith. 

It has been an abysmal campaign for Wright, with just two wins to his name and is now purely playing for pride. 

Snakebite has won just two games across the 13 nights this season and Bullly Boy will see this as the perfect opportunity to pick up some much needed points as he is four points behind Van Gerwen who is the current occupier of the final play-off berth. 

The most intriguing of the four quarter-finals is a clash that sees top-of-the-table Littler take on third-placed Aspinall. 

Last week, Littler managed to rattle the Liverpool crowd and bank five precious Premier League points while he was at it.

He has undeniably been the star of this year's campaign, but Aspinall has gone about his business quietly and has put himself firmly in the mix for the trip to the O2 Arena. 

It seems a given that we go on about Aspinall's stats being amongst the worst in the competition every week, but this week we won't as he's had a brilliant campaign that's been built on a core of resiliance and brilliant ton-plus checkouts, one stat which he is top of the pile in. 

However, we think that Littler is on fire and will get the better of The Asp for the second week in a row in a close-run affair.

In the other half of the draw, defending champion Van Gerwen looks to tighten his grip on fourth spot against 2018 world champion Cross. 

Cross went six nights without a win, but Voltage returned to form last week with a run to the final in Liverpool, where he lost to Littler. 

Van Gerwen has struggled for consistency since the early stages of the competition, with 71 percent of his points tally coming in the first four weeks. 

Cross got the better of Van Gerwen last week and we think Voltage will continue his revival with a win here as he tries to make a late push for the play-offs. 

The winner of that one will face Humphries, who receives a bye to tonight's semi-final and has already picked up two precious points.

It'll be a tough task for either MVG or Cross, but Humphries has been in poor form recently, picking up just four points in the last five nights.

Despite the chase for the play-offs reaching its climax, Liittler is the man to beat and we think he'll solidify his grasp on top spot with a fourth night win here.

 

Suggested bets

Luke Littler to win night 14

Rob Cross to beat Michael Van Gerwen

Michael Smith to beat Peter Wright