Darts / Jaymes Monte / 08 February 2012 /

The Premier League darts season begins this Thursday evening with all eight players in action at the Manchester MEN Arena...

Having won the recent PDC World Cup for England Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor will now resume rivalries in what could be a real humdinger to round off the evening's play.

Taylor began the PDC World Cup in extremely poor form. He lost three consecutive singles matches against Ken MacNeil of Canada, USA's Gary Mawson and then Richie Burnett. Had it not been for Lewis carrying his partner then England would certainly have made an early exit from the tournament.

Ironically, however, it was Jackpot's heroics that helped Taylor play his way into form, and that just might be to his detriment this Thursday. The Power's game improved, as it so often does, as the tournament progressed and in the end it was he who helped England edge over the line and claim the title; Lewis looking physically exhausted come the closing stages of Sunday's final.

The pair have been practising together this week - a sign of their rekindling affection for one another - and although Taylor still holds the world number one ranking position there is now very little between the two players.

Yet that is not reflected in the Match Odds betting. Taylor is made a [1.85] chance to kick off the campaign with a win, while Lewis is available at odds of [3.2]; the draw is [6.6].

When the pair met on the opening night of the Premier League 12 months ago, with Lewis the newly crowned World Champion, Jackpot romped to an 8-2 win. Although I don't expect the margin of victory to be quite as large, I saw enough in Hamburg at the weekend to suggest that Lewis, having recovered physically, can begin the campaign with maximum points.

Recommended Bet:
Back Lewis to beat Taylor @ [3.2]

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