2020 Unibet Premier League Darts Odds and Predictions

The 2020 Unibet Premier League of Darts began on Thursday, February 6th. For the next three-plus months 10 of the world’s best dart players will be competing to be this year’s Premier League Champion. Michael Van Gerwen, world #1, is the defending champion and has won this event five times. Can he make it a sixth or are we in for an upset come May 21st?

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV-HD, and through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

Outright Winner Odds

2020 Unibet Premier League Field

Michael van Gerwen

Premier League Appearances: 8th
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 1st
Previous Best Performance: Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

No surprise the #1 player in the world is the early favorite and will more than likely be the favorite throughout the entire competition. van Gerwen is already one of the best players in darts history and there is a reason he has won the last four Premier League titles, he’s that good. It’ll be hard to dethrone van Gerwen and it will take one of these players to play their best darts come playoff time.

Peter Wright

Premier League Appearances: 7th
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 2nd
Previous Best Performance: Runner-up (2017)

Peter Wright is coming off of his first World Championship title back on January 1st. After years of up-and-down play, Wright has finally captured darts’ biggest tournament. Now coming into the Premier League hot, Wright is looking to capture his first Premier League title. It’ll be a tall task but Wright is one of a handful of players capable of taking down van Gerwen.

Gerwyn Price

Premier League Appearances: 3rd
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 3rd
Previous Best Performance: 5th (2019)

Gerwyn Price has upped his game over the last few years, making his third-straight Premier League appearance. Coming off of a semi-final appearance in the World Championship, Price is turning into one of the most entertaining players to watch. Capable of putting up huge scoring numbers, Price is the type of player who can take down anyone with ease if he plays his best darts.

Rob Cross

Premier League Appearances: 3rd
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 4th
Previous Best Performance: Runner-up (2019)

Rob Cross shocked the dart world in 2018 when he defeated the greatest dart player in history, Phil Taylor, in the World Championship. It was Cross’ first appearance and the final of Taylor’s long and storied career. Cross is also making his third-consecutive appearance in the Premier League. Cross now has three major PDC tournament titles after his win in the European Championships back in October.

Michael Smith

Premier League Appearances: 4th
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 5th
Previous Best Performance: Runner-up (2018)

Thought to be the next thing in darts after his 2013 PDC Under-21 World Champion win, Michael Smith hasn’t quite reached expectations just yet. While he does have six PDC titles, Smith is 0-4 in Major finals. Smith is capable of scoring in bunches but his inconsistency on the doubles can be his biggest weakness. Smith enters the Premier League as a longshot but is certainly capable of winning it all despite losing in the first week.

Gary Anderson

Premier League Appearances: 9th
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 6th
Previous Best Performance: Winner (2011, 2015)

A two-time Premier League Champion, Gary Anderson returns to the Premier League after a brief one-year hiatus. Anderson is one of the highest scorers in the world and can hit triple 20s as well as anyone. With his high-scoring ability, Anderson is certainly capable of upsetting van Gerwen or anyone else in his path. Anderson has three career televised nine-dart finishes.

Daryl Gurney

Premier League Appearances: 3rd
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 7th
Previous Best Performance: Semi-final (2019)

Daryl Gurney is a player who exploded onto the dart world in 2017 with some great performances. Prior to 2017, Gurney had just one major televised event semi-final. Since then, he has nine, including two titles. Gurney qualified for the Premier League semi-final last year and while he is a longshot, he is certainly capable of making another trip to the playoffs this year.

Nathan Aspinall

Premier League Appearances: 1st
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 8th
Previous Best Performance: Debut

Nathan Aspinall is making his Premier League debut. In his one Major tournament title, Aspinall won the UK Open with a 170 checkout in the final leg against Rob Cross. After early exits in major tournaments during the first four years of his career, Aspinall has made back-to-back semi-final appearances in the World Championship and an appearance in the 2020 Masters semi-final. Thought to be a rising player, Aspinall could make a huge statement to the dart world if he could somehow find a way to take home the Premier League title.

Glen Durrant

Premier League Appearances: 1st
PDC Order of Merit Rank: 22nd
Previous Best Performance: Debut

Also making his Premier League debut, Glen Durrant dominated the British Darts Organisation (BDO) before making his way to the PDC. He has nine career Major BDO tournament titles and has lost in only one Major BDO final. While the BDO is similar to what the Minor Leagues are to the Majors, Durrant’s dominance in the BDO is nothing to ignore. Durrant had a number of semi-final appearances in Major PDC events last year and is not the type of player you want to overlook. His 7-3 victory over Michael Smith to open the Premier League is a prime example.

2020 Unibet Premier League Challengers

– John Henderson (Aberdeen, Night One)
– Fallon Sherrock (Nottingham, Night Two)
– Jonny Clayton (Cardiff, Night Three)
– William O’Connor (Dublin, Night Four)
– Luke Humphries (Exeter, Night Five)
– Stephen Bunting (Liverpool, Night Six)
– Chris Dobey (Newcastle, Night Seven)
– Jeffrey de Zwaan (Rotterdam, Night Eight)
– Jermaine Wattimena (Rotterdam, Night Nine)

Points won by Challengers will not count towards the league table, however, their opponents will retain any points gained from the matches. Challengers will receive financial bonuses for winning or drawing their matches.

Premier League Format

During the first eight weeks, nine league rounds are played with a double round played on a Wednesday and Thursday in week eight in Rotterdam. In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of week 8 (March 26th), the bottom player (9th place) is eliminated from the competition.

In the seven weeks 9 to 15, seven league rounds are played. In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. These matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of the 15th week, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.

The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21). Playoffs will take place on May 21st.

Premier League Predictions

Michael van Gerwen is the clear favorite in this competition and it is hard to bet against the greatest dart player in history, especially when he is still in his prime. van Gerwen is just 30-years old and already has more PDC tournament titles (75) than the great Phil Taylor’s previous record (70). Considering van Gerwen’s dominance over the years, it is hard to pass up on taking him at nearly even money at the early stages of the competition.

Once we reach the Premier League playoffs, it truly is anyone’s game. Of course, van Gerwen will be the favorite but any of these nine players could take down van Gerwen if they play their best darts. That is the beauty of the game. However, only a few players are likely to be able to compete with van Gerwen on a consistent basis. Needing to beat him 10 legs (games) is something only a very few players are good enough and consistent enough to do.

Gurney, Durrant and Aspinall are all solid players but they are in over their heads here. One of them may be able to make a run at the playoffs with some luck but I don’t see them playing well enough to compete with some of these players on a weekly basis. Smith has yet to live up to expectations and I don’t see this being his year either. Cross and Wright are too inconsistent at times and one of them will likely miss the playoffs, maybe even both.

The two players who have the best chance of dethroning van Gerwen are Anderson and Price. Both players have averages that are high enough to compete with van Gerwen. Price had the third-highest average in 2019 (97.95) while Anderson was fourth (97.46). Cross was second on that list (99.05) and van Gerwen was first (100.52). Price and Anderson also have high checkout percentages over the last 15 months. If you are looking for some value on what players have the best chance of taking down van Gerwen, Price and Anderson are your two best choices.

Matchup Odds