Premier League Darts Night 16 tips and predictions: Nathan Aspinall to claim the final play-off spot in Sheffield

Aspinall will look to banish the memories of last season's final day defeat to Johnny Clayton when he comes up against Smith. 

Aspinall is the current occupier of the final play-off berth but Smith beat the world number four last week to move just one point behind him and make this match a shoot-out for the final play-off spot.

Meanwhile in the other quarter-final in that section of the draw, Luke Littler can secure top spot with a win over Peter Wright. 

The already-qualified Luke Humphries takes on Gerwyn Price in the bottom half of the draw, while Michael Van Gerwen takes on Rob Cross.

 

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Night 16 quarter-finals (1900 BST)

Luke Littler vs Peter Wright

Nathan Aspinall vs Michael Smith

Luke Humphries vs Gerwyn Price

Michael Van Gerwen vs Rob Cross

 

Wright's abysmal Premier League campaign comes to an end in Sheffield when he takes on teenage sensation Littler in the opening quarter-final. 

Wright has won just two of his 17 matches in this year's competition, on the other hand Littler has won eactly two-thirds of his matches, which is mightily impressive for a debutant. 

A win here would secure top spot for The Nuke and lets face it, he deserves it. The 17-year-old has breathed new life into the Premier League and has attracted a new legion of fans to the sport while at it.

A Littler win should be on the cards here and would compound Wright to the lowest points total since the new format was introduced in 2022.

While Littler usually grabs the limelight, the focus will be on the second quarter-final in Sheffield, with 2023 world champion Smith clashing with reigning World Matchplay champion Aspinall in a winner-takes-all match for the final play-off spot. 

Smith has not got up to the levels we know he can in this year's competition, with Bully Boy some way off the form that clinched him the Sid Waddell trophy in 2023, but he has been regularly picking up points and has given himself a fighting chance. 

The Asp had a poor start to the campaign, but night wins in Exeter and Rotterdam have seen him jump into the play-off spots, but quarter-final exits in the last two weeks have given Bully Boy the chance to close the gap. 

However, Aspinall has had a knack of picking up wins when he needs them most in this competition and we can see him banishing the memories of last year and booking his ticket to the O2 Arena. 

In the other half of the draw Humphries looks to build some momentum ahead of the play-offs.

Cool Hand was back to his best at Leeds last week, claiming his fourth night win of the campaign, which was followed by a run to the final in the Baltic Sea Darts Open and despite a nine-darter, he was narrowly beaten by Cross.

The world number one faces Price, who has been struggling with a back injury recently, and the Iceman will be extremely disappointed with his performance this year given that he made it to the final in 2023.

When Humphries is in the mood, nobody can match him and we can see Cool Hand benefitting from an easier draw on paper to grab a fifth night win. 

In the final quarter-final, Van Gerwen, who qualified for the play-offs for a fourth consecutive year last week, takes on Cross. 

MVG has been far from his best this season, but a late flurry from the Dutchman including a night win in Birmingham and a run to the final in Leeds has got him over the line. 

Cross has paid for a barren run between nights seven and 12, with a late surge not enough to get him in the mix for the end of season jamboree. 

However, Voltage sparked into life at the weekend and bagged a European Tour win so you'd expect him to perform well here, especially with the £10,000 nightly winners cheque still in play for all eight players.

Cross to beat Van Gerwen is worth a punt, but we can't see the 2018 World Champion getting the better of Cool Hand for the second time in a week.

 

Suggested bets

Luke Humphries to win night 16

Nathan Aspinall to beat Michael Smith

Rob Cross to beat Michael Van Gerwen