Stephen Bunting 
Jonny Clayton Jonny Clayton against Stephen Bunting in the Night 12 quarter-final. The Ferret arrives at this knockout playoff as the Premier League's dominant force in 2026, sitting top of the standings with 34 points from 24 matches. Bunting, meanwhile, is scrapping to stay relevant in the bottom half of the table. These quarter-finals matter. Win and you're in a semi-final the same night. Lose and you're going home.
Stephen Bunting
Bunting is ranked 15th in the world and carries eight PDC titles to his name, including that BDO world title. He's not a soft touch. The problem right now is that his Premier League campaign has been genuinely poor. Six wins from sixteen matches puts him seventh in the standings, and his recent cross-tournament form reads W L W L L. There's no momentum here. He shows up, competes in patches, but cannot string results together consistently. At evens, the market is saying this is a genuine coin flip. That feels generous given how he's been playing.
Jonny Clayton
This is where the contrast becomes stark. Clayton is the form player of the entire Premier League season. Fifteen PDC titles, a Premier League crown already on the shelf from 2021, and right now he's producing the kind of sustained excellence that separates top-six ranked players from the rest. Seventeen wins from twenty-four matches, 34 points at the top of the table, and five consecutive victories in his recent cross-tournament outings. Five straight. Clayton isn't just winning, he's winning with the kind of regularity that makes bookmakers nervous. The 1.80 on offer reflects that status, though it still represents a tradeable price given where both men are in their respective seasons.
Betting Verdict
The odds suggest a tight match. They're wrong. Clayton at 1.80 is the clear pick here. Bunting's even-money price is flattering a player who's lost ten of sixteen Premier League matches and arrives without any real winning momentum. Clayton, by contrast, is the closest thing to a certainty the Premier League has produced this season. His table-topping form isn't built on easy draws, it's built on consistency. The five-match winning streak heading into this knockout night tells you everything about his current mindset. Yes, knockout darts can be unpredictable, and Bunting is capable of a big performance on his day. But backing patchy form at evens when elite form is available at 1.80 is not where the value lies.
Jonny Clayton to Win
1.8
Clayton is the standout performer of the 2026 Premier League season and comes in on a five-match winning run. Bunting is seventh in the table with ten losses from sixteen and no form to speak of. The 1.80 represents genuine value on the night's biggest favourite who has earned every bit of that tag.