2018 Unibet Premier League Darts – Gary Anderson vs Daryl Gurney Preview

AT A GLANCE

When? Thursday 8^th March

Where? First Direct Arena, Leeds

What channel is it on? Sky Sports Action

Where can I stream the match? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go

Are tickets still available? www.eventim.co.uk

THE STATISTICS

THE LOWDOWN

CAREER HEAD-TO-HEAD
Gary Anderson 6-6 Daryl Gurney

GARY ANDERSON

• Anderson came back from 6-3 down to salvage a draw against Peter Wright in Berlin two weeks ago. He has picked up just one win from his opening four matches but sits only one point outside the top four in the table. His finishing against Wright was the best he has produced so far in this year’s Premier League as he missed just one dart at a double. Anderson also took out a checkout of 150, meaning he has had the highest checkout in each of the last two Premier League weeks.
• Anderson has averaged over 105 in each of his last two Premier League matches. His average of 105.25 against Wright coming on the back of his 110.79 average against Van Gerwen the previous week.
• He comes into this match as the newly crowned 2018 UK Open champion having won the tournament last weekend. It was Anderson’s first major TV ranking tournament victory since the 2016 PDC World Championship.

DARYL GURNEY

• In his last Premier League match, Daryl Gurney lost 7-2 to Michael van Gerwen, and he is one of only two players without a win in the opening four weeks of the 2018 Premier League. Including this match against Anderson, Gurney still has to face three of the current top four players in the PDC rankings.
• Gurney’s checkout percentage against Van Gerwen was 22.2%, and he has the lowest overall checkout percentage in the tournament at 28.6%. He is also the only player yet to register a ton plus finish.
• As poor as his finishing has been, Gurney has been scoring well. During the first four weeks, Gurney has hit a total of 17 180’s; only Gary Anderson has equalled that total.

THE PREDICTION

Gary Anderson enters this contest on a high having won the 2018 UK Open last weekend in Minehead, and his attention now turns to the Premier League where he will be looking to pick up a win having had to settle for one point from his last two matches despite some very impressive performances in those matches.

Daryl Gurney is still seeking his first win in the Premier League; he has really struggled to take his chances during his four matches so far and this just has to change if he is to have a chance of moving up the table. Gurney does have a good recent record against Anderson having won each of their last three meetings, including a memorable 11-9 win in the last 16 at the 2017 World Matchplay. Gurney was playing to a much higher standard back then though and was more clinical on his doubles which has not been the case of late.

These two players are currently at the top of the 180 hitting charts in the 2018 Premier League, showing that Gurney has the potential to match Anderson’s scoring. It will all come down to doubles though and Anderson’s extra confidence should be the difference.