Paul Nicholson: “If both turn up, the 180 count could be a little silly”

Jose De Sousa v Glenn Durrant

 

Right off the bat, you have to pay tribute to the box office player that is JDS, simply because no matter what he does, it prints lines in articles and newspapers. If only there were odds as to whether he would miscount!! The fact that he doesn’t have a perfect tactical game makes him unpredictable, then add his physical ability and you have something I want to watch every night. 

Up against the bottom of the table Duzza, he will have to throw sympathy and empathy out of the window against his good friend, and be ruthless as he does not want to be left near the foot of the standings for too long getting closer to Judgement Night. 

Glen may cause some issues for JDS at times and may make De Sousa pay for some error ridden visits, but surely JDS will have learnt from the machine like performance that Dimitri Van Den Bergh put in against Glen earlier in block one, as if to say, “there are no friends on the Premier League stage.”

JDS to win and have the most 180’s – 2/7

 

'Anything is possible in darts'. Jose De Sousa is picking up a head of steam in this tournament and isn't ruling himself out of a title charge. @JoseDeSousa180 #Unibet180 | #PLDarts21 | @OfficialPDC pic.twitter.com/GB6QttjkyC

— Unibet (@unibet) April 19, 2021

 

Rob Cross v Dimitri van Den Bergh

You would initially think that this one would be close, but I’d like to bring something to your attention. Robs record against Dimitri is amazing. He has won 7 of their 8 meetings. Those matches have taken place in every arena in the game too, so it’s not like Rob has just beaten the Belgian number 1 on the floor. He has beaten him in Home Tour darts, Players Championships, European Tour darts and at The World Championship. So, does Cross have the wood on The Dreammaker?

Dimitri will say that every game is different and that record is a little flattering, but there is no denying that some players do have genuine problems against certain opponents. 

As for this match, I am going to follow the form and watch out for a Rob Cross win. I think if both turn up, the 180 count could be a little silly, so to be a tiny bit cautious, go for over 5.5 in the match, and that is VERY cautious. 

Rob Cross to win – 27/10

More than 5.5 x 180’s in the match – 21/50

 

WIN A UNIBET PREMIER LEAGUE OF DARTS SIGNED BOARD

 

Nathan Aspinall v Jonny Clayton

You can’t argue with the constant quality that Jonny Clayton has provided in 2021. If Phil Taylor or Michael Van Gerwen were hitting these numbers, we would be raving even more potentially. We CANNOT underestimate just how dangerous JC has become in the last year. If he were to lift this title come the end of May, it wouldn’t be a shock anymore, hence his outright betting for the win has been slashed. 

Nathan knows how good Jonny is right now, and if he is to get a win here, he will require a performance that maybe he hasn’t reached in about a year. In other words, it’s time for The Asp to rekindle his love for a HUGE average and a flawless stint on doubles. 

If he does that, I will happily smile and so will Jonny as he hasn’t got a mean bone in his body, but you cannot look past the Welshman right now. To coin a much overused phrase, he is playing the darts of his life, and when someone is doing that, you have to back them. 

Jonny Clayton to win, but I do think all 12 legs will be played – 9/1