Premier League Darts Night 8 tips and predictions: Luke Littler won't break Gerwyn Price curse

Littler was on fire in Cardiff last week, beating Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the final while rattling off a nine-darter, ten 180s and a not too shabby average of 112.5

The 18-year-old effortlessly moved his way through the gears to the final with an average of a shade over 102 in the 6-3 win over Nathan Aspinall, then a 107.67 average in the 6-2 semi-final victory against Rob Cross.

He tops the Premier League table with three wins and would have to have a nightmare in the next eight nights not to qualify for the play-offs in late May.

It’s no surprise to see him at skinny odds (11/10) to scoop his fourth crown in Newcastle on Thursday, so he’s not really that appealing if you are looking for value.

Littler mysteriously avoided the trip to Gottingen in Germany for the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy…maybe he has something against safety shoes.

That break might have been as simple as a much needed rest and he’ll return supercharged for Thursday night. Or it was a bit more worrying like an injury or a sickness bug. I don’t think he’s doing A-levels so it won’t be revision.

I’m going for the injury angle here, and he won’t be fully prepared for the trip to Newcastle and that means someone else can cash in, and at 9/1 Gerwyn Price has plenty of appeal.

If Littler beats bottom of the table Stephen Bunting and Price overcomes Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, the duo will meet in the semi-finals.

Price appears to be Littler’s kryptonite, the Iceman has now beaten the World Champion in six consecutive games, five of those happened in front of the TV cameras.

The Welshman is 39-21 in legs from those games, and was even cheeky enough to mention that he might be ‘In Luke’s head a little bit’ after beating him in the Night 6 final.

He might have a point, stats show that Littler does struggle to turn high averages into winning legs when playing Price.

In the 85 chances Littler had to win a leg in 15 darts or fewer, he only succeeded 34 times (40%), while Price converted 49% of the time.

We believe Price will make it seven in a row against Littler and go on to win the final.

If you are really hunting for an even bigger price, then putting Nathan Aspinall down e/w at 18/1 shouldn’t be ignored.

He won his first European Tour title in Germany at the weekend and might have enough fuel in the tank to take down Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals.

Aspinall doesn’t have the greatest record against the Dutchman, but has managed to beat him once this season and has taken him close in other encounters.

Chris Dobey (18/1) is the other big-priced dark horse playing in front of a rowdy home crowd, he’s got to get past Luke Humphries first though.

But with the good vibes floating around Newcastle after they won the Carabao Cup two weeks ago, you never know what’s in the water.

 

Premier League Night 8 tips

Gerwyn Price win

Nathan Aspinal e/w

 

How to watch Premier League Night 8

Premier League Night 8 from the Utilita Arena, Newcastle will be live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 7pm and available to stream with NOW.

 

Premier League Night 8 schedule and match times

Thursday March 27

Quarter-finals

Luke Littler v Stephen Bunting (19:15 GMT)

Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross (19:45 GMT)

Luke Humphries v Chris Dobey (20:15 GMT)

Michael Van Gerwen v Nathan Aspinall (20:45 GMT)

 

Semi-finals

Littler/Bunting v Price/Cross (21:15 GMT)

Humphries/Dobey v Van Gerwen/Aspinall (21:45 GMT)

 

Final (22:30 GMT)

Premier League format

Each 'Night' is an eight-player knockout tournament over the best of 11 legs.

Nightly winner receives five points, runner-up three points, losing semi-finalists two points.

After Night 16 the top four in the final league table qualify for the play-offs at the O2 Arena on May 29.

The play-offs consist of two best-of-19-legs semi-finals and then the a best-of-21-legs final.

 

Premier League prize money

Tournament winner - £275,000

Runner-up - £125,000

Losing semi-finalists - £85,000

5th place £75,000

6th place £70,000

7th place £65,000

8th place £60,000

Nightly winners earn a £10,000 bonus

 

READ MORE: What is a bet builder? A simple guide to how bet builders work

READ MORE: What is an accumulator or acca bet?

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