Glen Durrant
Former Premier League champion on Sky Sports

That was a brilliant 12-darter. Now it's about resilience and fight.

Ian Mitchelmore
BBC Sport Wales at Utilita Arena, Newcastle

It took Stephen Bunting until night nine last season to win a match.

Having gone 2-0 up here, he must already be fearing the worst after losing four successive legs.

Michael van Gerwen is stamping his authority all over this now.

Better from Stephen Bunting on his throw, starting the fifth leg with visits of 100, 140 and 100 to get down to a finish first.

But as Bunting cannot get 161 to go, Michael van Gerwen is waiting at 86.

Treble 18 is spot on. The first double 16 is wide, but MVG pins it on the second attempt for a fourth straight leg.

This is turning into vintage Michael van Gerwen.

Back on his throw, Mighty Mike gets six darts at 152 for the lead and the first visit brings 94 of them.

Needing 58, Van Gerwen splits his tops chance and then is wide at double 10.

Stephen Bunting is invited a break chance at 88. Treble 20 is perfect and after bending the wire on double 14, is fractionally low at double seven.

MVG pins double 10 for a 3-2 lead.

That last-leg win for Michael van Gerwen has seen him kick on here, but a 139 from Stephen Bunting moves him to a finish attempt of 62 on his throw.

The Bullet sets up a dart at double 16 from there but is wide left and invites Mighty Mike for a 117 chance.

Treble 20, 17, tops! Excellent break from the seven-time Premier League champion.

Glen Durrant
Former Premier League champion on Sky Sports

Michael van Gerwen is now back in this game. That was an excellent finish in the end.

Probably a bit harsh there, Colin.

Sure, he did not have a great campaign 12 months ago, but he is the world number seven at present. A debate nonetheless.

On Michael van Gerwen's throw, a 180 gives him a strong advantage and he gets three darts at 65.

Bull, seven, double four. A hold for MVG.

Continued progression from Stephen Bunting on his throw buys him six darts at 164.

The Bullet struggles though and only takes 44 from the first three.

Back for Shanghai, the first two darts are perfect but Bunting goes over at double 20.

Van Gerwen cannot pressure him enough and the Bullet doubles his lead at double 10.

A strong start for both men on the Michael van Gerwen throw.

There is double trouble for Van Gerwen, missing two attempts to see off 44.

Stephen Bunting gets a chance at 24 to break Van Gerwen's throw and after splitting the 12s, pins double six for the lead.

Ian Mitchelmore
BBC Sport Wales at Utilita Arena, Newcastle

Titanium by Sia always goes down well with the darts crowd as far as Stephen Bunting is concerned.

But there's something iconic about Michael van Gerwen walking out to Seven Nation Army. It's been a classic for a long period of time.

The fans got stuck in to both of those walk-ons.

Lovely stuff.

Other opinions are of course, available. But for me, of tonight's quarter-finals, these are the best pair of walk-ons.

Titanium and Seven Nation Army. The Utilita Arena crowd love both. Mind you, it was great to hear Johnny B.Goode earlier on.

Back to the oche and both men are in good spirits for this one. The winner will face Luke Humphries in around an hour's time in the semi-finals.

Mighty Mike to throw first, game on!

Image source, Getty Images

Stephen Bunting claimed one of this year's wildcard picks after finishing bottom of last year's table and taking until week nine to earn a point.

The selection received criticism from some despite Bunting being seventh in the PDC's order of merit.

"I just want to turn up and enjoy my darts. As long as I'm playin with a smile on my face I know i'm giving it 110%. That is what it is all about for me," said Bunting.

"I'll always stay humble and down to earth and if that gets me in the Premier League for the next 10 years then I don't care. I just want to work hard and make sure I'm competing at the top level.

"It's really important to forget about (negative comments) anyway. As soon as I got selected I was overjoyed and I feel like I'm in on merit and I'd done enough."

Image source, Getty Images

Every year people speculate about the format of the Premier League and whether it needs to be changed.

The current format of quarter-finals, semi-finals and final was introduced in 2022, with players previously just playing one match each night. It saw them play the other nine players once, with two eliminated after night nine, before another seven weeks of just playing each player once.

At Wednesday's launch event, seven-time winner Michael van Gerwen was asked for his opinion on how next year's tournament should look.

"There are a few ways to do it, but I prefer the old format ahead of what we do now," said Van Gerwen.

"But you could also do something with eliminations or split it with this format for a few weeks then the old format again.

"Now, all the players play too many games against each other and otherwise people really look forward to a certain week.

"That night is going to be Luke and Luke or Luke and Michael instead of it happening every single week, but I also understand from the spectator point of view that they have a winner every week."

Mark Webster
Former BDO world champion on Sky Sports

Michael van Gerwen will be concerned by his World Masters defeat.

It will be a tough campaign and year. He's highlighted that the ranking events are his priority this year because he's defending so much prize money but that might allow him to freeflow in the Premier League.

But, I do think if he doesn't pick up some points in the first three or four weeks, he will be feeling the pressure more than anybody.

Ian Mitchelmore
BBC Sport Wales at Utilita Arena, Newcastle

This is perhaps one of the more intriguing match-ups of the quarter-finals.

Seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen missed out on finals night last year for only the second time in 13 years.

As for Stephen Bunting, despite numerous encouraging performances, he desperately struggled to pick up points last season and finished rock bottom of the table.

His selection this year was questioned by many fans, so do both players have something of a point to prove this season?

It's stating the obvious, but the victor in this match-up will certainly benefit from getting some early points on the board.

Image source, PDC/Kieran Cleeves

Two of this year's Premier League Darts more experienced players face each other in tonight's last quarter-final, with Stephen Bunting facing seven-time winner Michael van Gerwen.

Bunting had a campaign to forget last year, finishing bottom of the table. That is despite averaging north of 97 throughout the campaign.

It was also one that world number four Van Gerwen will hope to forget, narrowly missing out on qualification for finals night.

The duo have met twice this year already, with both ending in 6-4 wins for Van Gerwen. Mighty Mike has 21 victories to The Bullet's three in career head-to-head meetings, including winning the first 16 meetings in a row between them from 2014 to 2022.

The averages really do not tell the story of 10 legs without either player breaking throw.

Luke Humphries averaged 104.55, Gerwyn Price was almost 10 points back at just below 95.

Both men were excellent at the doubles. Humphries took six of his nine chances, while Price was even better with five out of seven.

Ian Mitchelmore
BBC Sport Wales at Utilita Arena, Newcastle

Image source, PA Media

Wow, what an ending.

A real missed opportunity for Gerwyn Price after a tight contest, but Luke Humphries makes no mistake in the end to get over the line.

The sign of a champion.

Stuart Pyke
Commentator on Sky Sports

What a finale to a fantastic match.