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2018 Unibet Premier League Darts – Peter Wright vs Raymond van Barneveld Preview

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AT A GLANCE

When? Thursday 22nd March

Where? The SSE Hydro, Glasgow

What channel is it on? Sky Sports Main Event, 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.thessehydro.com

THE STATISTICS

THE LOWDOWN

CAREER HEAD-TO-HEAD
Peter Wright 8-9 Raymond van Barneveld (4 draws)

PETER WRIGHT

  • Peter Wright is currently in the elimination zone having picked up four points from his opening six matches. Last week he lost 7-1 to Michael Smith which was his second consecutive 7-1 defeat having lost by the same score to Mensur Suljovic two weeks ago.
  • During those two 7-1 defeats Wright only had a combined total of nine attempts at doubles; and his match average against Smith of 82.91 was easily his lowest of the tournament so far.
  • Last weekend, Wright exited the two Players Championship tournaments at the second-round stage. On Saturday he was defeated 6-1 by Brendan Dolan and on Sunday he lost 6-5 to Jan Dekker.

RAYMOND VAN BARENVELD

  • Raymond van Barneveld is just outside of the top four in the Premier League having won two, drawn two and lost two of his six matches. His next two fixtures after this game are against the current top two in the table, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.
  • Last week in his 6-6 draw against Gary Anderson he recovered from a 4-2 deficit to lead 6-4 and went on to miss five match darts which would have given him a 7-4 win.
  • Barney’s tournament average after six matches is 93.45 and he has only averaged more than 95 on one occasion in the 2018 Premier League.

THE PREDICTION

Peter Wright has struggled badly over the last couple of Premier League nights and has been on the end of two heavy defeats. He was suffering from a shoulder problem last week which certainly hasn’t helped and it is unclear how his shoulder is this week but his overall form before this complaint complaint was patchy. Wright does have the boost of having a home crowd support in this match though he is facing a crowd favourite in the form of the legendary Dutchman.

Raymond van Barneveld has produced some very indifferent displays in the 2018 Premier League; he showed some positive signs against Gary Anderson last week, though not winning the match must have been a huge disappointment. He is still in a good position for a fight for a top four spot however, and a win here could move him into the play-off places.

Barney has won just one of their previous seven Premier League encounters, and even though four of the seven matches ended in a draw the Dutchman’s last win over Wright in the competition was back in 2014. Sequences don’t last forever though, and it seems the combined factors of Wright struggling for fitness and form and Van Barneveld showing some encouraging signs that his confidence and form are returning might just mean this match goes the way of Barney.

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