Luke Littler insists he’s “back where I should belong” at the top of the Premier League Darts table as he aims for a fourth nightly title in five weeks on Night Nine in Manchester.
The 19-year-old from Warrington heads to the AO Arena on Thursday for the latest instalment of the BetMGM Premier League, with coverage on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 7pm. After a slow start to the campaign, Littler has hit top form with nightly victories in Cardiff, Dublin and Berlin to surge into first place.
Littler sits two points ahead of Jonny Clayton and is chasing a third straight season finishing the league phase inside the top spot. With eight league nights remaining before the top four advance to Finals Night at The O2, currently Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen occupy the other automatic qualification places.
He carried impressive scoring into Berlin last week, averaging 105, 108 and 106 across his three wins, and in Manchester he meets Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals — a replay of January’s World Championship final at Alexandra Palace. Van Veen swept to three of the opening four nightly finals on his debut and won the only Premier League meeting between the two so far.
Littler believes opponents feel a psychological edge when they face him, pointing to his comeback from 5-0 down to beat Gerwyn Price in Dublin as evidence he’s never truly out of a match. He joked about the points target for qualification — recent seasons suggest around 25–26 points is enough, but he quipped he’ll tell people 30 points before he feels safe — and acknowledged his future in the sport will come down to motivation and how long his “fire” to compete remains.
Night Nine schedule at the AO Arena (quarter-finals onwards):
– Luke Littler vs Gian van Veen
– Michael van Gerwen vs Stephen Bunting
– Gerwyn Price vs Luke Humphries
– Jonny Clayton vs Josh Rock
Each night awards ranking points that shape the league table: five points to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to each semi-finalist. The top four after the league phase progress to Finals Night at The O2 on Thursday 28 May.
Luke Humphries is the defending Premier League champion. The season continues with weekly Thursday fixtures on Sky Sports through to May.