World Champion Michael Smith looks to continue his strong start to the Premier League as he faces Chris Dobey in Nottingham.
Smith hasn’t made the play-offs since 2018 but sits second in the table on 12 points.
“The Bully Boy” reached the final last week in front of his home crowd of Liverpool but lost 6-4 to league leader Michael van Gerwen.
The World Number One has yet to face Chris Dobey in this year’s Premier League.
Their last meeting was in the Masters earlier this year.
“Hollywood” beat Smith 11-7 in the semi-final enroute to picking up his first televised PDC title.
Dobey will be looking to restart his campaign.
The Masters champion won the opening night but has failed to add to his points tally since.
He averaged 101.98 in his quarter final last week but perfect finishing from Nathan Aspinall saw Dobey lose 6-4.
The winner of this tie will face either Peter Wright or Michael van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen made history last week by becoming the first person to win three consecutive nights in the Premier League.
The victory placed him top of the league with 20 points, eight points ahead of second place.
LEAGUE TABLE!
Michael van Gerwen is running away with it after Night Six, as he clinches his third night win in a row.
Michael Smith leads the chasing pack!#PLDarts pic.twitter.com/zEHKQpnO41
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 9, 2023
Peter Wright finally got his first points on the board last week with victory over Gerwyn Price in the quarter final.
“Snakebite” had lost his opening five fixtures in the league before he overcame Price in a last leg decider last week.
He faced MVG in the semi-final but was thrashed 6-1.
In the other half of the draw, Dimitri van den Bergh opens the night with Nathan Aspinall.
“The Asp” defeated Dobey last week with 100% finishing in his quarter final.
He lost to Smith in the semi-final with a 75.47 average – the lowest average in Premier League history though he said he had the flu.
Dimitri van den Bergh also lost to Smith last week, a 6-3 defeat in the quarter final.
The pair have faced each other once so far in this year’s Premier League.
The Belgian thrashed Aspinall 6-1 with a 103.63 average in week three.
The remaining quarter final is an all-Welsh clash between good friends Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton.
The World Cup of Darts teammates are separated by one point in the league with “The Iceman” occupying the final play-off spot.
The duo both fell at the quarter final stage last week.
The pair have yet to face each other in this year’s Premier League but have clashed twice in 2023.
Price won both matches, the latest an 11-10 victory in the semi-final of the Nordic Darts Masters.
You can watch the PDC Premier League Thursday, March 16th at 7pm on Sky Sports Action.
(Featured pic with permission from Taylor Lanning/PDC)
