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The 2023 Premier League Darts season heads to Berlin for Night 9 action on Thursday, March 30th. The Mercedes-Benz Arena hosts the night’s play, which signals the start of the second half of the season.
The top half of the draw for the Premier League Darts betting on Night 9 is fascinating. Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith, Chris Dobey and Dimitri Van den Bergh, are in there, all separated by just four points in the standings.
They are the four main protagonists in the race for a top four finish, with Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price already looking strong in the top two. Gerwyn Price triumphed in Newcastle last Thursday, winning the round of action for the second week running.
Here we look ahead to Night 9 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 9 Date and Time
Contents
Night 9 of the 2023 Premier League Darts is from the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin. Kick-off in the first match of the evening, which is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Michael Smith 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 heavily beaten in the Night 8 Final by Gerwyn Price. But it was more points in the bag regardless for MVG who has a seven-point lead at the top of the table over Price.
Price amped up his form, by making it back-to-back wins in Nottingham and then Newcastle. So the Iceman is the form player of the Premier League Darts season at the moment. Will The Iceman come through the pack again?
The race for the top four will be heavily in focus on Night 9 because of the draw. There are big points up for grabs in the top half Berlin draw where Aspinall, Smith, Dobey and Van den Bergh are all crushed. This could be an important night to start the second half of the season.
Let’s look at the fixtures for this week’s round of action.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Michael Smith
Dimitri Van den Bergh has had an interesting season and he needs to get a couple of wins under his belt on Thursday. He’s in the mix in that congested race for a top four finish, but a quarter-final exit could see him cut a bit further adrift.
Van den Bergh has lost both Premier League meetings with Thursday’s opponent Michael Smith this season.
But Smith has dropped out of form, losing his opening match on three of the last four Nights of action. So he will be feeling the pressure in this one badly. With Van den Bergh trailing fourth-placed Smith by just three points, the Belgian will recognise a big chance to move back up in contention here.
There has been an interesting trend of a quarter-final exit followed by a semi-final exit for The DreamMaker in the last five rounds. He is due a semi-final place based on that. Given the slumping form of Smith, then there could be a big opportunity for match underdog Dimitri Van den Bergh in Berlin.
Nathan Aspinall vs Chris Dobey
Nathan Aspinall has made it to the semi-finals on three of the last four Nights of Premier League action. So the consistency has certainly been there by him. He could do with taking the points against Dobey on Thursday in Berlin.
This is part of the race for a Top Four slot and Aspinall hasn’t been in the bottom half of the table this season, the only player not to have been. But he is also the only one of the current top five not to have won a Night of action this season.
Dobey has made it past his opening match in the last two rounds of action. He’s produced some cracking performances in the last two weeks actually with victories over the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.
So he’s a threat, but while he is 1-1 against Aspinall this season, he’s lost four of the last five against The Asp. If Dobey lands the win, it could shake up the top four significantly.
Micahel van Gerwen vs Jonny Clayton
We have to look at this with the realistic view that it could be one of the most one-sided quarter-final matches in the Premier League on Night 9. Michael van Gerwen is seven points clear at the top of the table.
He takes on Jonny Clayton who is second from the bottom and on a four-match losing streak in Premier League action at the moment. Van Gerwen has bossed The Ferret in all three meetings so far this season, winning by at least 3 legs in each of those.
So it may be a little tricky to find a reason to push towards any kind of match upset in this one. Van Gerwen wasn’t at his best last week in Newcastle and still reached the showcase match. We would expect a fairy routine opening victory for him in Germany.
Peter Wright vs Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright is still stuck with one match win in this Premier League campaign. He’s nowhere near the formidable force that he can be. The season for him is pretty much done and dusted with little chance of reaching the final four from his position.
So motivation can’t be a big factor for him at all at the moment. Wright is the match underdog in darts betting for Thursday night’s opener against Gerwyn Price. The one victory that Wright took this season was against Price back on Night 6.
But since then Price has upped his game, winning the Nights in Nottingham and then last week in Newcastle. His victory in the Newcastle final against Michael van Gerwen seven days ago was spectacular.
There is just no comparison between the two in terms of form. It’s all with Price who won a European Tour event on the weekend as well. There’s a fair chance he’ll be pushing for some revenge over Wright.
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.
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