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The 2023 Premier League Darts season heads to Newcastle for the Night 8 action on Thursday, March 23rd. The Utilita Arena in Newcastle hosts the night’s play after a thrilling round of action in Nottingham last week, in which Gerwyn Price emerged successful.
The quarter-final fixtures for Night 8 are all repeats of last week’s line-up, but the bracket draw has received a shake-up. When the dust settles on the Night 8 action, the Darts Premier League standings will be at the halfway stage of the regular season. It’s still Michael van Gerwen who leads the way at the top.
But the race for the top four spots heated up last week with Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall both suffering early exits. Here we look ahead to Night 8 of the 2023 Darts Premier League and you can also check out our full daily darts predictions for the quarter-final matches onwards.
Premier League Darts Night 8 Date and Time
Contents
Night 8 of the 2023 Premier League Darts is from the Utilita Arena in Newcastle. Kick-off in the first match of the evening, which is Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright is at 7:10 pm.
There will be a total of seven matches on the night in the knockout bracket format in which league points are played for.
The 2023 Season So Far
Reigning Champion Michael van Gerwen was the subject of a huge shock result in Nottingham last week. MVG was chasing his fourth Night success in a row but succumbed to a stunning 6-0 reverse against Chris Dobey in the final four.
MVG’s three-dart average in that match was still above 100, but the finishing of Dobey was just unplayable. So MVG’s run of wins came to an end dramatically. As for Dobey, he couldn’t follow through in the Night 7 Final, losing to Gerwyn Price.
It’s Michael van Gerwen who is still streets ahead of the rest of the pack at the top of the tree, with Gerwyn Price now nestled into second place. But the race for a top-four finish is still wide open as we head into the halfway point of this campaign.
Van Gerwen, Price, Michael Smith and Chris Dobey remain the four players who have claimed a Night victory so far in the campaign. Will there be a new winner on Night 8? Let’s look at the fixtures for this week’s round of action.
Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright
There will have been few punters who had backed a 6-0 loss for Van Gerwen in last week’s semi-final against Chris Dobey. But even the best in the business has to fall sometime. After wins in three successive rounds of Premier League Darts action, Van Gerwen had his bubble properly burst.
But he is still the form player of the campaign and dominates the standings. He’s only failed to make it past the quarter-finals on one occasion this season. Last week MVG opened in Nottingham with an easy 6-1 victory over Peter Wright. Each of the last three Premier League meetings between the players has ended that way.
Wright remains rooted to the foot of the table and out of touch in terms of a top-four finish. He is going to have an uphill task ahead of him to claim what would be the second match victory only of this campaign, as he runs into Mighty Mike again.
Nathan Aspinall vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
This is a tough position of the draw to be in, as it likely means a semi-final match against Van Gerwen. Dimitri Van den Bergh won last week’s quarter-final duel with Nathan Aspinall, which put a bit of pressure on the latter in the race for a top-four finish.
Aspinall is the only player in this season’s Premier League who hasn’t dropped outside the top four at any point. But that record is at risk on Thursday night in Newcastle. Aspinall, who hasn’t won a Night of action this season, can be caught and overtaken by Van den Bergh.
Making this a difficult fixture for Aspinall is his head-to-head record against his Belgian counterpart. Aspinall has lost his last ten against Van den Bergh in an incredible streak. It would be a great time for him to break that slump to strengthen his position in the standings over the DreamMaker. But that result is far from being a given.
Gerwyn Price vs Jonny Clayton
With his Night 7 win over Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price extended his current streak of winning form over his fellow Welsham to five. After winning the Final in Nottingham last week, Gerwyn Price claimed his second success of the season.
He’s comfortably inside the top four now in the Premier League standings, and Price should have plenty of confidence behind him at the moment. It has been far from a perfect season by Price though, who has dipped in and out of form.
But given the positive run of form that the Iceman has against Clayton, then more success could be coming Price’s way. Clayton, who had a good run of form in Nights 3, 4 and 5 has suddenly been hit hard with back-to-back quarter-final losses. The Ferret needs quite the bounce back which isn’t going to be easy.
Michael Smith vs Chris Dobey
This is another interesting clash between Smith and Dobey, a repeat of last week’s quarter-final clash. Chris Dobey came out on top 6-4 in Nottingham. For him, it ended a five-match losing streak of form in the Darts Premier League this season. So it will have eased a lot of pressure.
Dobey’s victory then over Michael van Gewren by a 6-0 scoreline was just remarkable. Dobey, the Night 1 winner, couldn’t add to his tally on Night 7 as he then lost to Gerwyn Price in the Final. Dobey is the underdog in the match outright odds for this week’s rematch with Smith in Newcastle.
Michael Smith has made it past the quarter-finals in four of the seven rounds of action this term. But two of those three quarter-final losses he’s suffered have come in the last three rounds of action. Smith will be keen to put some bigger points on the board this week and this should be a fantastic fixture with Smith trailing Dobey 3-5 in the head-to-head.
Premier League Darts 2023 Predictions
If you are looking for fuller, more in-depth darts predictions, then take a look at our weekly Premier League tips for the tournament. In them, we dive into odds to try and help punters pull the best value darts picks out for the night of action that lies ahead.
A full listing of the season’s Premier League Darts fixtures can also be found, along with results from the previous rounds. The fascinating appeal of the league is that there is a very long grind to get to the top honour of winning the title.
There are sixteen rounds of action to get through in the regular season, before the top four in the table move through to the playoffs. This unique darts tournament format presents unique challenges for players. Under normal knockout tournaments, there are no second chances and focus has to be sustained for a short burst of regular matches.
The Premier League challenge taps into players needing to find momentum and motivation to turn up week after week and produce results. It is in a way, the greatest test of consistency a player could have. It always sees players slide in and out of form, going on a hot streak perhaps towards the end of a season to fight for a place in the playoffs.
