Semi Final Hopefuls Face Off in Premier League

Raymond van Barneveld takes on James Wade and Simon Whitlock plays Adrian Lewis this Thursday evening at the Liverpool Echo Arena.

Any two of the aforementioned quartet of players could qualify for a place in the semi finals of this year’s Premier League but it is Barney who currently holds the advantage with 13 points from his 11 games played. This week he faces the in-form James Wade who is back in the hunt following his customary slow start to the campaign.

Last week’s win over Mark Webster moved Wade into fifth place on 10 points and level with Simon Whitlock who currently occupies that all important fourth place position.

“The results are starting to come at the moment and even though I had a slow start to the season it's not too late for me to make my mark in this competition,”said Wade following last Thursday’s triumph.

One more win for Barney would guarantee him a semi-final berth and the bookmakers have the Dutchman as the 11/10 favourite to get that victory this week. Wade is priced at 6/4 to continue his surge up the table with another two points and it is 4/1 that the match ends in a draw.

Both Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock will be keeping a keen eye on the result of that match but will also be fully ware that it is their own respective performances that they need to focus on.

Lewis suffered an 8-3 defeat to Phil Taylor last week but was far from disgraced with a 100.89 three-dart average. Whitlock also lost a tough match against Gary Anderson as the Scot prevailed 8-6 by winning the final leg of the match.

"For the majority of the match I played well and I know how it feels now to have 180s piled in against me early on - it's what I normally do to other players,” said Lewis last Thursday night.

"Some of the other results went for me tonight but I've got to play Simon Whitlock next week and that's a massive match for me now if I'm going to make the play-offs."

The bookmakers are unable to split the players in the betting with both men priced at odds of 13/10 for the win and the draw quoted at odds of 4/1.

It promises to be an enthralling night of darts with everything to play for in each of these two matches. A place in the semi finals awaits for those who can find the edge over the next fortnight of fixtures.