Home hero Gary Anderson easy to swerve in Glasgow

Night Seven
Sky Sports Action & Main Event, 7pm Thursday

Gurney v Suljovic
Head-to-head: Gurney leads 6-4
Draw king Daryl Gurney is set for more frustration when he takes on Mensur Suljovic on night seven of the Premier League in Glasgow.

Superchin, he of the big scores and missed doubles, has drawn four of his six matches, losing the other two, and his poor finishing is biting hard.

The Northern Irishman’s 29 per cent checkout rate is seven points down on the next worst and fully 17 per cent behind what Suljovic is delivering. Gurney may be first to the doubles but it’s not counting for a great deal.

Any fragility on the outer ring will be magnified at the SSE Hydro, where the baying natives tend to get all over any players struggling with their finishing.

If it’s getting to Gurney then he continues to be vulnerable and hard to back. Suljovic, in contrast, seems able to shrug off any distractions – he’s scoring well, doubling beautifully and looks the winner.

Recommendation
M Suljovic
1pt 7-5 Betfair

Van Gerwen v Smith
Head-to-head: Van Gerwen leads 19-5
The Premier League’s top two clash in arguably the match of the night with Michael van Gerwen heading into battle having clinched his third Players Championship victory at the weekend.

It’s hard to look past him although Michael Smith ought to be confident having beaten the Dutchman in their most recent meeting – on the floor last month – and with five wins out of six he is playing well.

That said, the layers are understandably taking no chances with Mighty Mike.

One price to look at may well be the 11-10 that Van Gerwen hits more 180s than his opponent. He has recorded 20 in 61 legs so far (Smith has 17 in 62) and the Englishman is the more likely of the two to have a blowout in that department.

Recommendation
M van Gerwen to hit more 180s
1pt 11-10 BoyleSports

Anderson v Whitlock
Head-to-head: Anderson leads 21-16
Gary Anderson’s frustrating form – he has won only one of his six assignments – makes him easy enough to swerve at cramped odds.

He’ll have the home crowd behind him and does well at the Hydro, winning his last four Premier League matches there with ton-plus averages.

But the recently-crowned Coral UK Open winner is drawing too many matches and it makes sense to keep the draw on your side.

Recommendation
S Whitlock or draw double chance
1pt 8-5 BoyleSports

Wright v Van Barneveld
Head-to-head: Van Barneveld leads 9-8
Peter Wright had a poor weekend on the floor where he was struggling with a shoulder problem.

Given that he has only four points and heads north of the border after a pair of 7-1 maulings, he looks easy to avoid.

However, Barney isn’t pulling up trees at the moment with a tournament average of 93.45 and this could turn into a scrappy encounter. Four of their seven previous Premier League meetings have ended in draws and six of the seven have gone to 12 legs.

Van Barneveld hammered Snakebite 10-2 when they last met in January’s Masters and if there is to be a winner, it may well be the Dutchman.

Recommendation
R van Barneveld
1pt 11-8 Betfair, Coral, Ladbrokes

Cross v Price
Head-to-head: Tied at 1-1
After a tricky start to his debut campaign Rob Cross has found his feet and the Sussex slinger can make it five wins in a row by toppling Gerwyn Price.

Backmarker Price is 2-5 to finish bottom of the table but the gutsy Welshman never goes down without a fight.

He was never going to beat Van Gerwen last week with a sub-93 average yet he still nicked three legs, connecting with three doubles from just five attempts.

Cross will be kept honest by Gezzy and a 7-4 or 7-5 victory, a 21-10 shot with Betway, looks the best bet.

Recommendation
R Cross to win 7-4 or 7-5
1pt 21-10 Betway

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