3 reasons to back Gary Anderson for Premier League Darts glory

It’s been five months since we last saw the world’s best nine tungsten tossers go toe-to-toe on the oche in the Premier League of Darts. But August brings good news, and the return of the tournament, with a monster six days of action.

We'll resume the league with Gary Anderson a point outside the playoff spot, with the lowest check-out percentage of anyone, and one of the lowest averages.

But those figures don’t tell the whole story. Here are three reasons Gary Anderson is a great value bet to win the tournament.

Hard to beat home comforts

Anderson admittedly struggles with the demands of a full Professional Darts Corporation schedule and how much travel is involved during the Premier League campaign. While not under ideal circumstances, this enforced time with the family will not have gone unappreciated by the Flying Scot, who has said he is happiest when he is at home.

Anderson’s 2019 season was marred with a consistent back injury, which saw him withdraw from The Masters and the Premier League.

He returned to the oche in July of 2019 but was slow to find his rhythm, after he lost weight during his rehabilitation and had to change his arrows. Twelve months on, Anderson will hopefully be back to his best, and the enforced break at home almost surely didn't hurt.

Scintillating form during the break

Considering Anderson didn’t have a dartboard or WiFi in his house at the start of lockdown, it’s remarkable to see the form he was in. On the special PDC Home Tour event, he won all nine of his games to reach the winner’s group, and it was only a 6-5 loss to Nathan Aspinall that denied him the title.

He carried that good form from his dining room to the main stage last month. He reached the final of the World Matchplay in Milton Keynes, the first tournament held behind closed doors since the break.

It will be back in the Marshall Arena, where the players are set to play the next three rounds of Premier League matches. Handily for Anderson, it is just two hours up the road from his family home.

A lot of the players who were featured in the Matchplay admitted it was difficult to get their head around the setup. The TV cameras are still there on the big stage, and the PDC has been piping in crowd noise to generate an atmosphere, but the players are throwing in an otherwise empty stadium.

Anderson has never appeared to need the crowd as much as some others might, so this may not be a bad thing. Premier League rivals Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, and Michael van Gerwen all feed off the live crowd and all three went out in the first or second round of the Matchplay.

Maybe a lack of alcohol-fueled fans in fancy dress will benefit the Scot more than most.

A rock-solid Premier League record

A two-time Premier League winner, Anderson has made at least the semifinal in his last five appearances in this tournament.

The hunger is back for Anderson, and if he can put a run together for the six consecutive days in August, he will be a force to be reckoned with as we edge toward the playoffs in London.

The Scot won five of his last seven Premier League games in the 2018 tournament, and a similar return here would surely be good enough to make the final four.