Premier League Darts from Bournemouth

Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson have secured their places in the top four of the Premier League 2011 table, Mark Webster will be eating with the wooden spoon and Terry Jenkins needs a miracle. However, there is still plenty to play for in the penultimate week of the Premier League group stages.

Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, James Wade and Simon Whitlock are still battling it out for a place in the semi finals of this year’s competition with just four points separating the quartet.

Barney is in prime position needing just one point from his remaining two matches to secure a top-four finish. However, he has a tough match against Gary Anderson this week and certainly wouldn’t want to let things go down to the last week where nerves could play a big part in his match against Mark Webster.

Anderson is clearly in good form having defeated Phil Taylor in the final of a UK Open qualifier on Saturday – although Taylor did gain revenge in the semi-finals of Sunday’s event – and the Scot looks a good bet at odds of 10/11 to pick up another two points here.

Lewis can end Jenkins’ slim hopes of gaining a semi-final slot by recording a second successive victory in the league. Neither player enjoyed much success at the weekend but the reigning world champion has looked better in the Premier League over recent weeks and looks good for a top four finish. At betting odds of 8/11 Lewis looks a solid bet to extend his winning streak.

Of all the semi-final hopefuls James Wade has the toughest task as he faces league leader Phil Taylor this Thursday. Only Anderson has been able to live with The Power’s resurgence over the past couple of months, Wade is unbeaten in four weeks but he has left himself too much to do this year and defeat here will spell the end of his charge up the table. Back Taylor -3.5 legs at odds of 5/6.

Conversely, Simon Whitlock has, on paper, the easiest task of the evening. His opponent, Mark Webster, is desperately out of form and is struggling badly in this year’s Premier League. Hopefully his demise won’t continue as he is undoubtedly an extremely talented player, but Webster will be yearning for the end of the Premier League group stages and an end to his misery. Expect another convincing win for Whitlock and back the Aussie on the handicap -2.5 legs at odds of 4/6 appropriately.

If results go as expected then we are set for an enthralling final week of the Premier League group stages. But, as ever in this competitive tournament, those expected to win this week will need to be on top of their game in order to get the results that they require.