Mardle the bet with handicap start

Wayne Mardle rates an attractive bet at 6-5 with Skybet receiving a four-leg start from Phil Taylor in their Whyte & MacKay Premier League match at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on Thursday evening.

The match, played over 14 legs, features two of the league’s in-form players, with Mardle suffering only one loss in seven weeks since crashing 8-0 to Taylor in Bouremouth on Night Six, and The Power taking 13 of a possible 14 points in the same period, a spell that has seen him claim two defeats of the world No.1, Raymond van Barneveld.

Taylor secured his place in the play-offs when rallying from 3-2 down to beat John Part 8-3 at Wembley last week, but Mardle, two spots behind The Power in fourth place in the standings, has work to do and will be loathe to concede his recent gains lightly.

Mardle famously ended Taylor’s PDC World Darts Championship dominance, denying him a fifteenth successive final, when storming back from 3-0 down to record a 5-4 quarter-final victory at Alexandra Palace in December, his first televised defeat of Taylor.

Mardle is a top-priced 11-1 with Stan James and Bet Direct to secure another defeat of Taylor, with The Power no better than 1-6 (Bet365) to triumph. The draw is available at 8-1 with Skybet.

Play commences on the evening with Peter Manley taking on Adrian Lewis. Taylor and Mardle are next up, with the games between van Barneveld and James Wade, and that between Terry Jenkins and Part to follow.