The Stats Zone
April 19 2018, 16:14 · Tom

2018 Unibet Premier League Darts – Daryl Gurney vs Simon Whitlock Preview

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AT A GLANCE

When? Thursday 19th April

Where? Rotterdam Ahoy

What channel is it on? Sky Sports Action

Where can I stream the match? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go

Are tickets still available? www.ticketmaster.nl

THE STATISTICS

THE LOWDOWN

CAREER HEAD-TO-HEAD
Daryl Gurney 11-2 Simon Whitlock (1 draw)

DARYL GURNEY

  • Daryl Gurney plays Simon Whitlock in his second match of the evening. He will have already faced Gary Anderson prior to this encounter.
  • Gurney starts night 12 three points outside the play-off places. Results earlier in the evening could mean he closes the gap to a point, and he could also come to the stage for this match five points adrift of the top four.
  • He has a very good overall head-to-head record against Whitlock having lost just twice in 14 previous encounters.

SIMON WHITLOCK

  • This is the second game of a pivotal Premier League night for Simon Whitlock. Two wins from his matches against Michael Smith and Daryl Gurney would see him well and truly in contention for a play-off place.
  • If Whitlock loses to Smith in the first match of the evening he would be six points outside the play-off places heading into this fixture.
  • Whitlock missed four darts at doubles to defeat Gurney when they met on night six of the 2018 Premier League. The Wizard has only one win to his name from 11 meetings against Gurney since 2014.

THE PREDICTION

Results earlier in the evening could have a huge bearing on both players' mentality when they take to the stage for his match as they will both have a realistic idea if their Premier League play-off chances are still alive or not so predicting an outcome without knowing the earlier results is tricky.

Gurney will start the match as favourite though. He has an excellent past record against Whitlock, and overall, he has played to a higher standard across the 2018 Premier League campaign. The scoring power of the Northern Irishman always gives him opportunities and his finishing is much improved from his early season wobbles on the outer ring.