Look for Michael van Gerwen to hit over 2.5 180s when he takes on Chris Dobey on Thursday night. ‘The Green Machine has averaged a very reasonable 2.87 180s per game across his 15 matches in this year’s Premier League. In fact, only Luke Littler (106), Luke Humphries (52) and Nathan Aspinall (47) have hit more maximums than van Gerwen (43) in this year's Premier League. That 180 return from MVG is made all the more impressive by the fact that he has played one week fewer than the rest of the eight-man field after being forced to sit out in Berlin last week due to a shoulder injury. 

Drill a little deeper and it can be seen that van Gerwen has unfurled over 2.5 maximums in five of his last six Premier League outings, including his most recent meeting with latest opponent Chris Dobey. It’s also worth noting that MVG covered the proposed over 2.5 180 line in three of his five meetings with Dobey during the 2023 Premier League campaign.

While Luke Littler’s record against Gerwyn Price makes him difficult to trust, the alternative solution is to support the teenage sensation to rack up the most 180s in this match. Even in defeat to Chris Dobey last Thursday, Littler still managed to win the 180 battle 4-2. That means ‘The Nuke’ has now hit an astonishing 106 maximums across the opening nine weeks of the Premier League season. To put that into context, Luke Humphries is second on the 180 leaderboard with 52 - less than half the amount that Littler has tallied to date. 

The Warrington wonderkid has hit more 180s than his opponent in 12 of his previous 13 Premier League assignments. Moreover, Littler hit 7 180s to Price’s 2 the last time the pair crossed paths on a Premier League stage. While ‘The Iceman’ is also more than capable of contributing to the 180 count in this contest, he has not been a consistent maximum hitter throughout the current Premier League campaign, evidenced by his overall return of 40 thus far. What’s more, the Welshman produced just two 180s when losing to Stephen Bunting in last week’s final in Berlin.

Stephen Bunting stands out to hit the most 180s in his latest meeting with Luke Humphries on Thursday night. ‘The Bullet’ filled up the treble 20 bed with impressive frequency on his way to last Thursday’s weekly title in Berlin. In fact, Bunting racked up a combined total of 12 maximums across his three victories in the German capital last Thursday. What’s more, Bunting clocked up the most 180s in two of his three successes last week, including his semi-final triumph over Humphries. 

While ‘Cool Hand’ is well renowned for being a frequent 180 hitter, he only managed to hit a solitary maximum against Bunting last week. On top of that, Humphries could only muster up a single 180 when overcoming Rob Cross at the quarter-final stage last Thursday. It’s also worth noting that the world number one was also outmaxed by both Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall in Newcastle a fortnight ago, further suggesting Bunting can follow suit in Manchester.