Darts / David Croft / 04 March 2009 / Leave a comment

There's only one thing worse than playing an in-form Phil Taylor and that's playing him after he's lost, says David Croft. But Premier League leader Mervyn King won't be fazed by the Power's formidable aura and Thursday night's North East match-up promises to be a classic.

Last weekend Phil Taylor, still smarting from defeat at the hands of James Wade in the Premier League, took a trip to Germany. Not that the Power was in the mood for sightseeing, no, there was only one thing on the world champions mind, revenge.

Fourteen matches and only 20 dropped legs later Phil had helped himself to two more players' championship titles, beating Adrian Lewis in both finals. Sometimes there's only one thing worse than playing Phil Taylor when he's on form and that's playing him just after he's lost. Phil, you see, doesn't take too kindly to being beaten and that defeat against Wade just happened to be his first loss since the German Players Championship final against Co Stompe back in December. Seems Taylor was keen to remind the German fans that he doesn't get beaten too often.

His form at the weekend doesn't bode well then for the man he plays in the Premier League on Thursday night. However, his opponent just happens to the only man with a 100% record so far, the only man to take this year's Premier League by the scruff of the neck and snarl in it's face. A man who has dropped only eight legs himself, who has scrapped, bullied and bashed up the unfortunate Jelle Klaasen, John Part, James Wade and Wayne Mardle. A man who so far has looked every bit the champion but now faces his toughest test yet. Make no mistake, Mervyn King against Phil Taylor is going to be a classic. Newcastle watch out!

The head to head record doesn't make good reading for Mervyn. So far he's played four and lost four, the most recent coming at the World Championships when he was outgunned in the semi-finals. But his league form has been spectacular and come Thursday night the pressure will be on Taylor not King.

Whatever happens, Mervyn will stay top and, unlike those who have been at the wrong end of a Power outage far too often in their careers, he won't give two hoots about his opponent, playing the board, not the man. Taylor starting first is an advantage for the champion but he will slip up at some stage in the match and King will be waiting. He's a bully when he's in the mood and so far this year he has been very much in the mood.

Which is why when I looked at the Betfair market on this match I had to refresh my computer and look again. [7.4] for a King outright win, [7.0] on the draw. Thank you very much, I'll have a bit of both at those prices in a match that I expect to be close, magical and capable of producing an upset.

The first match of the night brings together Jelle Klaasen and James Wade. Wade has dispensed with Phil and Barney in recent weeks, while the only thing Jelle's dispensing are headache pills. Poor old Jelle is now bottom of the league with nothing going his way and, according to Betfair backers, he has little or no chance in Newcastle.

Wade is available at [1.39] and, should he break the Klaasen throw early, he could be in for a comfortable night. Klaasen hasn't become a bad player overnight but his form can be patchy and his attempt to improve his throw in Germany at the weekend backfired when he didn't make the quarter-finals on either day.

Raymond Van Barneveld says he's not panicking despite picking up only three points in his opening four matches. As the Dutchman points out, he's played six matches in the World Championship, three in the Players Championship and four in the Premier League and has averaged around 100 every time - proof that apart from a few missed doubles there's not much wrong with his game.

Averages can be very misleading. A win against Mardle will give Van Barneveld some breathing space over those contesting the wooden spoon and although Mardle beat Barney in the World Matchplay last year, I don't expect a repeat this week, especially given Wayne's capitulation against John Part last week. Barneveld is a very warm [1.29] to win and [1.81] to win giving Mardle a 3.5 leg headstart.

Finally, Terry Jenkins against John Part. Jenkins I expected to be blown apart by Taylor but he battled brilliantly to earn a draw. Part I expected to draw against Wayne Mardle, instead he beat the Essex thrower eight legs to one. In other words who knows what these two will conjure up given their inconsistent efforts so far?

If it helps, the head to head record has Jenkins just in front, four matches to three and the two Premier League matches between the pair last year produced a win for each man. So no help in the form there. Jenkins did go to Germany at the weekend and despite a good win over the former BDO world champion Mark Webster was convincingly beaten by Kevin McDine and Adrian Gray. Part is [3.45] for the win, Jenkins [1.83] and the draw [5.5] which is what I might just end up opting for in a match that plays second fiddle to the Taylor/King clash of the titans.