Taylor Tightens his Grip
- By Jaymes Monte on April 5, 2011 15:11 GMT
Phil Taylor takes on Mark Webster in Aberdeen this Thursday evening looking to make it eight consecutive wins in the Premier League.
Taylor moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League table with an 8-3 victory over Raymond van Barneveld last week, further quashing any lingering doubts that his game may be deteriorating. Since losing on the opening night of the Premier League The Power has now recorded seven wins on the bounce and looks on course for a sixth Premier League title.
This week he faces an out-of-sorts Mark Webster who has just two wins from his eight games and has only James Wade below him in the league table.
Following his 8-3 victory over Barney, Taylor commented that he believed he was getting back to his best.
“I'm getting closer to my best but I'm enjoying it and going on stage with a smile on my face,” said Taylor. “You've got to relax and enjoy the game, even though there's a lot of pressure on you.”
Although Webster defeated Taylor in the PDC World Championship quarter-finals he has endured a disappointing Premier League campaign to date, and goes into this one as the big-price outsider.
The bookmakers have Taylor at odds of just 1/5 to add another two points to his tally, Webster is 7/1 for the victory and the draw is priced at 6/1.
Meanwhile, Barney will look to get his Premier League challenge back on track with a difficult fixture against Simon Whitlock. The Dutchman has only lost twice since the opening night of the league – both times against Taylor – but is till far from certain to secure a play-off place.
Whitlock could leapfrog van Barneveld if he were to pick up the win here. And, like Taylor, the Aussie believes he is approaching his best form following last week’s victory over Terry Jenkins.
"I'm probably about 95 percent at the moment but it needs to improve if I'm going to win this. It's hard every week and if you don't win you're in trouble," said the Aussie.
Barney is made the slight favourite here at odds of 5/4 for the win, Whitlock is 6/4 and the draw is 4/1.
