ONE HUNDRED AND AOTY ?! – Night 14 PL Preview
The 2023 Premier League Darts heads to the AO Arena in Manchester for Night 14 with current leader Gerwyn Price facing defending champion Michael van Gerwen in the Final Quarter Final.
The Iceman remains the only player in the current field to have picked up 4 separate night wins, coming into Manchester to face the Green Machine for the 6th time in this current campaign. A third of the meetings between the pair have come in Night Finals, with Mighty Mike clinching victory in Dublin on Night 4 before the Welshman gained revenge on Night 8 in Newcastle.
The 2021 World Champion is close to becoming the first player to win 5 separate nights in a campaign since the new format changed, with compatriot Jonny Clayton achieving the same last year after topping the Premier League table in 2022 as the defending champion.
Manchester presents 1 of 3 opportunities for Price to make history, but the main aim for the player from Markham is securing his place in the Play Offs at the O2 Arena. The Iceman will qualify should he beat the defending champion in the Quarter Finals, or Jonny Clayton fails to win his Quarter Final against Peter Wright.
Michael van Gerwen will also qualify for Finals Night on Thursday, should the 6-time winner better the result of the Ferret in Manchester.
The Pontyberem thrower will open Night 14 against Peter Wright, with the Welshman still in a very close Play Off race which could go down to the wire. World Champion Michael Smith moved 4pts ahead of Clayton after he clinched his second win of the campaign last week in Leeds, beating league leader Gerwyn Price in the Final.
Nathan Aspinall is 4th on 22pts after he picked his first win of the league format on Night 12 in Rotterdam. The 2022 table topper needs a response on Night 14 and an opportunity could present itself with the English pair facing off in the second Quarter Final, meaning 1 player will walk away with 0pts.
Peter Wright has enjoyed a strong resurgence towards the latter stages of the 2023 Premier League, winning 3 of his last 4 Quarter Finals. Snakebite is yet to win a night in the current campaign but is causing problems in the Play Off race having beat Nathan Aspinall in Brighton and Michael Smith the week before.
Clayton needs points from the remaining 3 weeks of league phase action, with the winner facing either 6th placed Dimitri van den Bergh or 7th placed Chris Dobey in the Semi Finals.
Coverage starts from 7pm live on Sky Sports with Jonny Clayton taking on Peter Wright in the first match of the night at the AO Arena in Manchester.
By Harry Masterson
Premier League Night 14: Order of Play
Quarter Finals:
Peter Wright v Jonny Clayton
Chris Dobey v Dimitri van den Bergh
Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen
Semi Finals:
Wright/ Clayton v Dobey/ Van den Bergh
Smith/ Aspinall v Price/ Van Gerwen
Final:
Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2
2023 Premier League Table:
- Gerwyn Price: 33pts
- Michael van Gerwen: 29pts
- Michael Smith: 23pts
- Nathan Aspinall: 22pts
- Jonny Clayton: 19pts
- Dimitri van den Bergh: 11pts
- Chris Dobey: 10pts
- Peter Wright: 9pts