Premier League Darts: Week 5 Preview – The Darts head to Exeter

After the most entertaining of nights last week, it is straight back to business with the whole league still only being separated by four points.

Kym Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen face off with, both men sitting on just two points. However, Klaasen will come into the match full of confidence after picking up his first victory over Dave Chisnall. Klaasen has another gear to his game that the Belgian does not have and on his recent form, I can only see one winner. Hopefully, for Huybrechts he doesn’t have a hangover after letting victory against Phil Taylor slip through his grasp, but with tough fixtures to come he needs a result.

Another man needing a result in Exeter is Dave Chisnall when he faces Raymond Van Barneveld.  He looked out of sorts last week against Klaasen and another loss will send him further towards the bottom two for the second year in a row. Barney will be thinking of more than just avoided the relegation zone though and currently sits right in contention for the top four. He will be eyeing this up as a chance to get points on the board and I fully expect him to.

We also have the World Championship 2015 final rematch between Gary Anderson and Taylor. Taylor remains unbeaten and joint top of the table with Anderson two points further back. Taylor was delighted to snatch a point against Huybrechts last time out, but he will face a much tougher task against the Flying Scotsman. Anderson picked up his first title of 2017 last weekend at Barnsley and will look to take that momentum into Exeter. A win could see him move into the top four, where he surely will finish come the end of the league stage.

Adrian Lewis was very impressive in his draw with Michael Van Gerwen last week, showing the true qualities he possesses. However, in recent years, these performances have been all too infrequent from Jackpot. Wright, on the over hand, is Mr Consistent at the moment, reaching yet another final last weekend, before falling to Anderson. This is the closest match for me of the night, but it all depends on which Lewis turns up.

Last, but by no means least, we have MVG taking on James Wade. While no one would be surprised to see Van Gerwen still unbeaten at this stage, Wade has performed brilliantly so far to join him at the top of the table. Van Gerwen took last weekend off, but he will rise to the occasion of facing one of the other big guns in the Premier league, as a warm up for the UK Open this weekend.

Predictions

Klaasen 7-3 Huybrechts

Chisnall 4-7 Van Barneveld

Lewis 5-7 Wright

Anderson 7-4 Taylor

Van Gerwen 7-3 Wade