With Glen Durrant four points ahead of Michael van Gerwen heading into the second phase, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf believes the Unibet Premier League as we know it could be changing.
The Premier League appears to be entering a new era.
With the retirement of Phil Taylor in 2018 and decisive defeat for Michael van Gerwen at the hands of Glen Durrant on Night Eight, this year's event looks likely to be the first not dominated by the only two players to have won the group phase of the competition and 11 of the 15 titles.
Heading into Night Ten, Van Gerwen finds himself in an unusual position - four points behind the table leader for the first time in his eight Premier League seasons.
Of the four players ahead or tied with him on points this year, MvG has lost to three of them in the first phase of the competition.
Durrant, sitting on 14 points after nine matches, has achieved the best result in Premier League history to this point of any player not named Taylor or Van Gerwen - the only other player to have won as many points by the end of Judgment Night, Michael Smith, lost 2-7 to MvG in their first meeting and never topped the table after the fourth night of action.
But it's not just Durrant enjoying a superb Premier League. Of the eight remaining players, only one has lost more legs than they have won and only one currently has a tournament average under 95 - Daryl Gurney.
Nathan Aspinall will draw attention on one night for his doubles accuracy or Smith will impress by throwing more than half a dozen maxima, but neither has been able to consistently convert their statistical strengths into wins.
It's not merely enough to beat Van Gerwen anymore; the stats suggest he is now only as formidable an opponent as any other.
On the one hand, this new era of competition may disappoint those who became accustomed to fire-breathing performances from Taylor or Van Gerwen.
At this point in the 2016 competition, MvG was averaging nearly 108, had broken the world record TV average and was attempting nine-dart legs and exhibition finishes nearly every night.
The world record has not seriously been threatened in the Premier League since 2017 (by MvG or anyone else) and the world number one is struggling to keep his average above 100.
But now that there is less to separate the players than ever before, the line-up of semi-finalists is very much up in the air.
It's certainly likely that Durrant will qualify, and that Gurney will not; but the remaining six players are all within three points of each other, and the cut-off separating fourth and fifth place is currently decided by a leg-difference tie-break.
Table leader Durrant has been a paragon of quietly consistent play, maintaining 42% accuracy on trebles and 46% on doubles without high numbers of 180s or three-figure finishes, but on only three occasions (in 56 legs played) has he failed to win a leg by the end of the sixth visit.
He has given his opponents opportunities to beat him; but when they fail to do so, they have been unlikely to get a second chance.
With Taylor retired and Van Gerwen not at his best, the Premier League title is realistically within reach for all nine remaining players, perhaps for the first time ever.
Follow Christopher on Twitter @ochepedia.
Live coverage of Unibet Premier League Night Ten will be shown on Sky Sports, as well as through the PDC's international broadcast partners including RTL7 and DAZN and for PDCTV Rest of the World Subscribers.
Night Ten
Friday August 28 (1900 BST)
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes - behind closed doors
Glen Durrant v Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright v Gary Anderson
Nathan Aspinall v Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney
