Will MvG fail again against Bully Boy?
Just a month ago the two players met in the final of the 2023 World Darts Championship, now on the first matchday of the 2023 Darts Premier League there will be a rematch of the recent World Championship final. Michael Smith goes into the match against Michael van Gerwen as underdog despite recent H2h.
Surprisingly, in the last four matches between Smith vs. van Gerwen a bet on the Englishman paid off. The “Bully Boy” will therefore go into the upcoming showdown with a broad chest.
As the year before the Premier League will be played as a mini tournament per matchday. The match between Smith and van Gerwen is one of four quarterfinal pairings on the first matchday of the Darts Premier League 2023.
Just under a month ago Michael Smith defeated the Dutchman 7-4 in the 2023 World Championship final. The performance was commendable as Smith not only played to a commanding 100.87 average, but the “Bully Boy” also threw a nine-darter against Michael van Gerwen.
Michael Smith – Statistics & current form
Michael Smith starts the calendar year 2023 as top of the PDC Rankings. The “Bully Boy” was crowned World Champion for the first time in his current professional career just under a month ago – in his third World Championship final mind you. Smith failed in his two World Championship finals before to Wright and van Gerwen, so the result in the 2023 World Championship final was all the more pleasing.
With the 7:4 against Michael van Gerwen the “Bully Boy” could take revenge for the final defeat in 2019. If you take a look at the form curve in the months before the World Championship title was not surprising at all for the Englishman. Smith had already reached the final at the UK Open 2022 and the European Championships 2022.
The “Bully Boy” also won the Grand Slam of Darts 2022. Since the World Championship title in 2023 Smith was now mainly represented in Masters without ranking. In Bahrain the world number one of the PDC won the next title, but was unsuccessful in the Nordic Darts Masters and the official Masters in Milton Keynes.
Will Smith extend winning streak against van Gerwen?
At the Masters 2023 last weekend Smith failed to beat Chris Dobey. The failure was not only due to a comparatively weak scoring average but also to a poor doubles record. Smith hit only seven of his 23 throws on the doubles against his compatriot Dobey.
For comparison: In the round before Smith had an average of 103,33 against Noppert and hit every second checkout attempt. So the statistics in the semi-final match against Chris Dobey were all the more surprising. To avoid a premature elimination from the mini tournament on the first Premier League day the “Bully Boy” will have to work on it.
After all, against a player like Michael van Gerwen there is hardly any margin for error. An average below the 100 mark would be fatal for Smith. Betting fans who want to bet on a win for “Bully Boy” can pick up betting odds of up to 2.30 on Smith vs. van Gerwen for tip 1 in the event of a win for the Englishman.
Last matches of Michael Smith:
The Masters
30/01/2023 – Michael Smith 7 – 11 Chris Dobey
29/01/2023 – Michael Smith 10 – 5 Danny Noppert
29/01/2023 – Michael Smith 10 – 7 Ross Smith
Nordic Masters
22/01/2023 – Michael Smith 8 – 11 Peter Wright
21/01/2023 – Michael Smith 10 – 7 Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen – Statistics & current form
Michael van Gerwen is burning for revenge after missing out on the World Championship title. Since then the Dutchman is in a small form crisis – at least that’s the interim conclusion after the latest results at the Masters. In Denmark “MvG” lost in the quarterfinals to Peter Wright. At the Masters 2023 in Milton Keynes van Gerwen was eliminated by Cross.
Against the Englishman he lost 7:10 in a best-of-21 after legs. Earlier “Mighty Mike” defeated Clemens vanquisher José de Sousa 10:7. In both matches Michael van Gerwen threw more than 99 points in the average so the defeat against Rob Cross was all the more surprising.
In the Premier League van Gerwen now wants to make amends and aims at winning the tournament. Last year the Dutchman won three of 16 mini tournaments – each mini tournament a matchday. In the play-offs, “MvG” even came out on top and was crowned champion 2022.
MVG targets seventh PL title
By winning the 2022 Premier League title Michael van Gerwen claimed the PL title for the sixth time in his current professional career. This year “MvG” is again one of the favourites and will probably qualify for the play-offs. Whether he will win the first mini tournament this week remains to be seen in van Gerwen’s current condition.
In favour of the Dutchman speaks above all the latest point average of “MvG”. On average Michael van Gerwen usually breaks the mark of 100 in the average, moreover the Dutchman convinced with a sovereign checkout rate.
In the Premier League 2022 Michael van Gerwen met Michael Smith seven times. Five of those seven matches “MvG” could win against Smith. Only twice “Mighty Mike” was the loser – a good omen before the first PL clash with Smith?
Last matches of Michael van Gerwen:
The Masters
29/01/2023 – Michael van Gerwen 7 – 10 Rob Cross
29/01/2023 – Michael van Gerwen 10 – 7 José de Sousa
Nordic Masters
21/01/2023 – Peter Wright 10 – 9 Michael van Gerwen
21/01/2023 – Michael van Gerwen 6 – 3 Andreas Harrysson
World Darts Championship
04/01/2023 – Michael Smith 7 – 4 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith – Michael van Gerwen Direct comparison / H2H record
Michael Smith has won his last four matches against Michael van Gerwen. So the “Bully Boy” could not only polish his H2h against “Mighty Mike” but also ended the negative series against the Dutchman. Before van Gerwen won five matches in a row against the Englishman. In a total of 33 encounters between the two darts professionals, “MvG” has a record of 22-11 against Smith.
Michael Smith – Michael van Gerwen Tip
On the first matchday of the Premier League 2023 there is already the crème de la crème of darts with the match between Michael Smith vs. Michael van Gerwen. Not only because the two players met in the 2023 World Championship final just under a month ago, but also because Smith and van Gerwen produced arguably the best leg in darts World Championship history.
After “MvG” narrowly missed a nine-darter, Smith converted his nine darts to a perfect leg. A similar spectacle can’t be excluded in the upcoming Premier League showdown. Both players convinced with a high average of points in the last matches.
Although Smith has built up his confidence since the 2023 World Cup and heads into the 2023 Premier League as world number one, we, like the bookies, see Michael van Gerwen as the favourite. The Dutchman is eager for revenge after his World Championship defeat and is targeting the semi-finals of the upcoming mini-tournament against the “Bully Boy”.
