Chisnall can make it count on Judgement Night in Cardiff

Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena hosts Judgement Night in the Premier League and although Simon Whitlock has already fallen through the trap door there are still three players who could suffer the same fate. Below are previews of all of the night’s action with the fivefold paying out £411.16 to a £10 stake.

Gary Anderson to beat Peter Wright @ 11/8

Peter Wright finally lost his unbeaten tag in last week’s farcical match with MVG and it could be time to start opposing the increasingly difficult-to-swallow Snakebite.

Depending on your view Wright was either performing the role of the ultimate crowd-pleaser last week or someone who was suffering from severe delusions of grandeur.

Needing 161 in leg five, the Scot was left with bull but pulled away from the oche to orchestrate the Dublin crowd before narrowly missing the target just after ducking down in exhibition style when trying to hit a T20.

Whatever his intention was it couldn’t be to lose the next four legs but that’s what happened as MVG channelled his frustrations into his darts.

Wright did fight back and threw for a draw but it was too little too late and a repeat of those unseemly antics could see him suffer his second loss of the campaign.

It clearly distracted the 44-year-old and the whole episode still could be, whereas his opponent Gary Anderson looks to be throwing with a clear head for the first time in a while.

Wright’s more amiable countryman landed the odds in fine style against Wes Newton last week, backing up a weekend performance where he blitzed the field and Phil Taylor in the Saturday Crawley final to land his fourth title of the season.

Anderson is on the fringes of the semi-finals places at present and is scoring in the heavy style that made his name.

Wright has arguably been the best player in the league overall but there is a very real suspicion that last week’s match will have ramifications past Dublin and at the prices the advice has to be to support Anderson to pick up a fifth win of the campaign.

Simon Whitlock to beat Michael van Gerwen + 3.5 legs @ 10/11

Defending champion Michael van Gerwen solidified his position at the top of the table in the aforementioned match against Wright and the layers are seeing this as a spot kick for the Dutchman against the already doomed Simon Whitlock.

However, prices of 1/4 in a race to seven legs are derisory and there has been encouraging signs in recent weeks to suggest that the Australian will keep it competitive.

The ‘Beard To Be Feared’ needed to beat Wes Newton last time to have any chance of survival but he has played a lot better in recent weeks with only one defeat in his last four and he is more than capable of registering four legs.

In their last four meetings they have shared the spoils 2-2 and with relegation now confirmed the pressure will have eased considerably on the popular Aussie.

Raymond van Barneveld to beat Adrian Lewis @ 13/8

Adrian Lewis destroyed Barney 9-2 en route to the UK Open last month but it’s unlikely to be as lop-sided an affair this time around.

Both multi-World Champions are on course for the semi-finals and its understandable why both operators are odds against.

Barney played out his fourth successive draw last week when having a gilt-edged chance against Phil Taylor while Lewis was held to a stalemate for the second week running against relegation-threatened Dave Chisnall.

And with 10 games in the last four weeks ending 6-6 it is naturally tempting to go that way again, however, that urge should be resisted.

Van Barneveld has won twice as many of their previous meetings and in the Premier League he has largely had the younger man’s numbe.

In their last six encounters in this format, Barney has won four and drawn one and that makes his price appealing.

They would probably be joint-favourites if Lewis hadn’t won the UK Open, but there is no relationship between the 29-year-old’s regular tour form and his performances on a Thursday night and he looks a shaky favourite.

Dave Chisnall to beat Wes Newton @ Evens

By far and away the most important match of the night comes between Wes Newton and Dave Chisnall and the selection has to be the latter.

Chisnall knows that a draw will be enough to reserve a place in the second half of the campaign while Newton can’t be so sure with only a Robert Thornton defeat in the following match making a stalemate enough for The Warrior.

You would have thought neither player will be contemplating those perms until the eleventh leg though and Chisnall looks set to make it academic anyway.

Neither player is in very good form but Newton certainly arrives with more baggage having picked up just a solitary point in four matches since missing Exeter with illness.

To make up for his Week 5 absence Newton played twice last week and could have avoided relegation all together with a pair of victories.

The 26-year-old will have been bitterly disappointed not to get even close to that four point target and the fact that he struggled to even post a draw against Whitlock will have been a body blow.

Encouragement is easy to find for Warrior supporters by looking at their career head-to-head which he leads 9-4, however they have shared the last four legs and in a game of this magnitude previous scores will count for little.

Back Chisnall to hang around for the second half of the season and condemn Newton to a second disastrous campaign one which could see him out of the conversation for some years to come.

Phil Taylor to beat Robert Thornton – 2.5 legs @ 8/11

Robert Thornton knows that only the most unbelievable set of results could see him relegated and it’s long odds-on that is safety is guaranteed by the time he’s escorted to the oche by a darting babe.

Taylor’s rejuvenation has come just in time to see him narrowly avoid any possible drama on Judgement Night and he looked solid if not spectacular towards the end of his match with Barney last week.

Like every player in the sport, Thornton has had the worst of his previous encounters with Taylor and a 16^th defeat from 21 meetings could be in store.

There’s nothing that attractive about the price and so the advice is to back Taylor with a deficit.

Whatever he says publicly, Thornton will be expending a certain amount of energy focusing on the match before his and he could be vulnerable to a thrashing from Taylor who is still determined to silence as many doubters as possible.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £50 in free bets.