European Championships Darts Betting: Some outsider value in Muelheim

Adrian Lewis has shown an encouraging upturn in form in recent weeks.

Jaymes Monte previews this weekend's European Championship darts from Muelheim, Germany...

With another UK Open title in Bolton at the beginning of last month, beating Michael van Gerwen en route, and a subsequent European Tour triumph in Gibraltar last week Phil Taylor has once again proved that talk of his demise was premature. Will we ever learn?

Those titles did, however, come either side of defeats to Robert Thornton and Gary Anderson in ProTour events in Crawley. Results that reiterate the point that Taylor is no longer the all-empowering force he once was. He'll still win his fair share of titles, but gone are the days when he is a worthy odds-on favourite for every tournament.

MVG, meanwhile, bounced back from his UK Open disappointment with another ProTour title in Crawley, but has lost to Wes Newton and Adrian Lewis in the past couple of weeks. Proving that he is also fallible.

At odds of 3.211/5 and 3.55/2 respectively, Van Gerwen and Taylor are worthy favourites, and the option to back them both to level stakes is tempting. However, in one of the 'lesser' PDC majors, I'd prefer to have a few smaller bets on some in-form outsiders at much bigger odds.

First up, two-time world champion Adrian Lewis. Jackpot had a horror show of a Premier League campaign and has disappointed in general for the best part of 18 months, but there are some encouraging signs of improvement.

At the UK Open, Lewis beat Wes Newton and Kevin Painter en route to the quarter finals, where he ultimately started too slowly in defeat to Peter Wright. Then in Gibraltar last week he won some close matches, including against Van Gerwen in the quarters, before losing another final leg decider against namesake Jamie Lewis in the semis.

He also has some good memories of this particular event, having twice reached the final, and has been handed a favourable looking draw in the early rounds. At odds of 14.013/1 Jackpot is overpriced and can be expected to trade much shorter, if not going on to win the event.

My second selection is the improving Peter Wright at odds of 26.025/1. Perhaps once more famous for his hairstyles, Snakebite now has the consistency in his game to back up his elaborate image.

Having reached five semi-finals, including that of the UK Open, in the opening half of the season, Wright bagged his first title with victory at Saturday's Players Championship event in Crawley a fortnight ago. He's also the fifth highest earner on the ProTour this season, ahead of the likes of Taylor, Simon Whitlock, Andy Hamilton, Gary Anderson and James Wade.

That run to the semis in Bolton last month, his best ever major result, will have been a big confidence booster, and he is another who has one of the friendlier early-round draws.

I can't stress enough how worthy Van Gerwen and Taylor are of their positions at the head of the market, and wouldn't put anyone off backing either or both. But we know that both are fallible, and there is some value at bigger prices.

Recommended Bets
Back Adrian Lewis to win @ 14.013/1
Back Peter Wright to win @ 26.025/1