Michael Smith heads into Premier League Finals Night as an underdog.
Smith finished fourth in the league, scraping into the play-offs after a victory in Sheffield last week, and now, it’s all to play for.
Smith finished fourth for a reason, over the past 16 weeks he’s not been as good as Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries or Luke Littler, but, as the former World Champion showed last week, on his day, he can beat anyone.
Smith has an uphill battle on Thursday as he faces Luke Littler in his semi-final, but, speaking to SportsBoom, Bully Boy stated that he has a plan in place to beat Littler at the O2 Arena.
Michael Smith’s plan to beat Luke Littler
Smith shared his gameplan against Littler, claiming that he wants to drag him down to his level before turning on the accelerator in the final legs.
“Just keep dragging him down to my level, keep bringing it down to 90 averages and then I kick on the last three or four legs and put it up over hundred,” Smith said when discussing his gameplan.
Smith’s plan won’t be easy
Smith says that he wants to bring Littler down to his level, but that won’t be easy.
Of course, there are a number of ways darts players can throw their opponents off balance, slowing the game down, trying to distract them ever so slightly and getting the crowd on side are all ways to gain an advantage.
However, Smith will find it difficult to utilise any of those tactics.
Bully Boy is at his best when he’s playing a fast game, so slowing Littler down may not work, while the crowd will likely be on the 17-year-old’s side after his meteoric rise this year.
Whether or not Smith has a trick or two up his sleeve remains to be seen, but this will be a difficult game no matter what he tries.