Michael Smith set to end MVG's winning streak

It’s Night Seven in the 2023 Premier League Darts season, with this week’s action coming from Nottingham. Michael van Gerwen won his third PL Darts night in a row in Liverpool last Thursday, but Michael Smith pushed him close in the final. Can Smith go one better this week? Here we examine his chances in our latest Darts betting picks.

What; Premier League Darts - Night Seven
Where; Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
When; Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Time; 2 pm ET

Premier League Darts; Night Seven Winner Betting

No surprise, Michael van Gerwen is the favorite to win Night Seven of Premier League Darts. MVG is +220 with the best darts betting sites, a slight trim in odds from the +225 he was in Liverpool last week.

Last Thursday, Michael van Gerwen won his third Night in succession. This saw the Dutchman set a new record in becoming the first player to do so. It does represent a bit of a dilemma though. MVG can’t go on winning every week, and he was also a touch fortunate to beat Michael Smith in Night Seven’s final. But he’s still the man in form, and this makes it difficult to bet against him.

Full betting can be found below from some of the best online sports betting sites for darts. More information can be found about these sites on our sportsbook reviews page.

Premier League Darts; Night 7 Winner Betting
Michael van Gerwen	+220	+220	+220
Michael Smith	+350	+325	+325
Gerwyn Price	+400	+400	+400
Peter Wright	+900	+900	+900
Jonny Clayton	+900	+950	+1000
Nathan Aspinall	+1000	+1000	+900
Dimitri Van den Bergh	+1100	+1100	+1200
Chris Dobey	+1800	+1700	+1800

Despite this, we are not picking MVG to win the Night on Thursday. He looked a bit lethargic in his win over Smith last week, and he didn’t do well in the two Players Championship events last weekend. On Saturday he lost 6-3 to Luke Woodhouse in the Round of 128, and then in Sunday’s competition, he went down 6-2 to compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode in the last eight.

This has been a common theme across recent weeks where MVG has been struggling at the weekend, but performing well in the Premier League on a Thursday. But this can’t go on forever, and we think his Thursday night’s winning streak will end this week.

Night Seven Quarter-Finals

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Nathan Aspinall
Jonny Clayton v Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright v Michael van Gerwen
Chris Dobey v Michael Smith

Of all the big name stars, Michael Smith looks to have the most favorable draw this week. Like MVG, Smith didn’t have a great weekend in the Players Championship events either, but we feel he looked good in last week’s Premier League and make Smith our pick to win on Night Seven.

Michael Smith To win Night Seven

+350

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Now, let’s move onto Thursday’s quarter-final matches and reveal the rest of our darts picks.

Dimitri Van den Bergh -122 vs Nathan Aspinall +102

The first fixture we are looking at is Dimitri Van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall. Van den Bergh himself seems to have gone off the boil a touch lately. He lost 6-3 to Michael Smith at the quarter-final stage last Thursday, and was well beaten 6-2 by Jonny Clayton in the semi-final on Night Five.

As for Nathan Aspinall, he struggled to a 6-4 win over Chris Dobey last Thursday. He was then comprehensively beaten 6-2 by Smith with an average of just 75.47 in the semi-final.

Two out of form men, but we just think Van den Bergh looks slightly better at the moment.

Dimitri Van den Bergh To beat Nathan Aspinall

-122

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Jonny Clayton +124 vs Gerwyn Price -144

Both these two went out at the quarter-final stage last Thursday. Clayton lost 6-2 to MVG, while Price lost 6-5 to Peter Wright. On form it’s a hard match to call, and with Price not being himself recently, it’s a great opportunity for Clayton to win the battle of the Welshmen.

It’s possibly a slightly risky bet, but we’re going with Clayton to get a win over his fellow countryman.

Jonny Clayton To beat Gerwyn Price

+124

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Peter Wright +200 vs Michael van Gerwen -240

Peter Wright finally got his first win of the 2023 Premier League Darts season in Liverpool last Thursday, when he defeated Gerwyn Price 6-5 in the quarter-finals. His mini renaissance ended there as Snakebite was then thrashed 6-1 by MVG in the semi-finals.

It’s just Wright’s luck that he is scheduled to play MVG in the opening round this week. But make no mistake though, Peter Wright is well able to beat van Gerwen. But that also doesn’t mean he will.

As we’ve mentioned, we don’t see MVG winning four Nights in a row. But how can we pick Peter Wright to beat him? It’s simple, we can’t. MVG (-1.5) to win on the handicap at -144 has to be the pick.

MVG (-1.5) To beat Peter Wright

-144

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Chris Dobey +200 vs Michael Smith -240

Chris Dobey is in that awful position of learning just how difficult the Premier League Darts roadshow is when you’re struggling. Once a player gets on a losing streak in this format, there is simply no hiding place. It can be brutal.

Many players over the years have taken part in this competition and have been utterly demolished. And despite Dobey winning Night One, it’s been all downhill since.

Chris Dobey is +1800 to win on the night for a reason. And he is also the +115 favorite to finish bottom of the eight-player table for a reason. Take Smith (-1.5) to win on the handicap at -139.

Michael Smith (-1.5) To beat Chris Dobey

-139

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