Gary Anderson is in pole position to seal the final Premier League play-off spot next week despite losing to Raymond van Barneveld in Birmingham.
The Scot, outclassed 7-3 by the veteran Dutchman, heads into the final night of the regular season in Aberdeen two points better off than fifth-placed Daryl Gurney with a superior leg difference.
Anderson takes on defending champion Michael van Gerwen next in his homeland while Gurney, having produced checkouts of 147 and 167 in a 6-6 draw with Michael Smith, faces second-bottom Peter Wright.
Anderson and Gurney are in a battle to join Van Gerwen, Smith and Rob Cross at the O2 Arena on May 17.
Van Gerwen has topped the table for a sixth consecutive year, producing a season-high average of 111.57 to hammer world champion Cross 7-2.
In the opening game of the evening, Wright moved off the bottom of the table at Simon Whitlock’s expense with a 7-4 triumph over the Australian.
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