HAVING been deposed at the top of the Premier League Darts table, Luke “The Nuke” Littler’s bid to reclaim that spot brings him back to his native north west on Thursday.
The PDC roadshow rolls into Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena in what will be another homecoming of sorts for the Warringtonian, who will have the honour of opening the show on Night 13 of the tournament.
The 17-year-old will be out to avoid back-to-back quarter-final losses for the first time as he takes on Gerwyn Price, with the Welshman in desperate need of a victory to keep his own play-off hopes alive.
Having fallen at the first hurdle to Michael Smith last week, Littler dropped to second in the overall table behind Luke Humphries, who beat him in the second round of the European Darts Grand Prix in Germany over the weekend.
The two will meet again in the Liverpool semi-finals if Littler can see off Price and Humphries beats Nathan Aspinall, who picked up his second nightly win in Rotterdam last week, immediately afterwards.
Littler and Price are due on stage at 7.15pm.
PDC Premier League Darts, competing players
Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Luke Littler.
Schedule for PDC Premier League Darts Night 13, M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, April 25:
Quarter-final 1: Luke Littler vs Gerwyn Price, 7.15pm
Quarter-final 2: Luke Humphries vs Nathan Aspinall, 7.45pm
Quarter-final 3: Peter Wright vs Michael Van Gerwen, 8.15pm
Quarter-final 4: Michael Smith vs Rob Cross, 8.45pm
Semi-final 1: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 2, 9.15pm
Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v Winner of QF 4, 9.45pm
Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.30pm
Interesting note:
Littler has yet to go two consecutive nights without registering a point in the Premier League.
His quarter-final meeting with Price will be his third Premier League clash with the Welshman, with the last being a 6-3 Littler victory in the Night 10 final in Manchester.
Price emerged victorious in a last-leg decider in the Night Three quarter-finals in Glasgow.
A reminder of what happened last week:
Results for PDC Premier League Darts Night 12, Rotterdam Ahoy, Thursday, April 18:
Quarter-Finals
Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Littler
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Semi-Finals
Michael Smith 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Luke Humphries
Final
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Michael Smith
PDC Premier League Order of Merit:
Format for PDC Premier League nights 2024:
Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).
Players will face each other twice in quarter-final ties throughout the season, with the fixtures being balanced for players to be in opposite halves of the draw in an equal number of weeks.
The fixtures for Night 8 and Night 16 will be based on the league table following Night 7 and Night 15 respectively.
The top four players from the final league table will progress to the Play-Offs, which will feature the semi-finals over the best of 19 legs and the final over the best of 21 legs.
The order of throw for all league night matches will be decided by a bull-off, which will be conducted beforehand in the practice room. For the Play-Offs, the semi-finals will see the higher-placed player from the final league table throw first, with a bull-off for the final.
League Points per Night:
Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus
Runner-Up - 3 points
Semi-Finalists - 2 points
Prize Fund:
Winner - £275,000
Runner-Up - £125,000
Semi-Finalists - £85,000 each
Fifth in League Table - £75,000
Sixth in League Table - £70,000
Seventh in League Table - £65,000
Eighth in League Table - £60,000
Nightly Winner Bonus - £10,000 x16
Total - £1,000,000
Schedule for remaining PDC Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:
Night 13, Liverpool, April 25: Littler v Price, Humphries v Aspinall, Wright v Van Gerwen, Smith v Cross.
Night 14, Aberdeen, May 2: Wright v Smith, Littler v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Cross, Price v Humphries.
Night 15, Leeds, May 9: Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Wright, Humphries v Cross, Aspinall v Smith.
Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Fixtures confirmed following Night 15.
Play-Offs: The O2, London, May 23: The top four players after 16 nights.
Story of 2024 so far for Luke Littler:
PDC World Darts Championship runner-up
Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, including first leg nine-darter in quarter-final
Dutch Darts Masters runner-up
Premier League Night 1 (Cardiff) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 2 (Berlin) finalist
Players Championship 1 (Wigan) winner, including nine-darter in the last 32
Premier League Night 4 (Newcastle) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 5 (Exeter) semi-finalist
UK Open quarter-finalist
Premier League Night 6 (Brighton) semi-finalist
Belgian Darts Open Champion, including nine-darter in final
Premier League Night 7 (Nottingham) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 9 (Belfast) winner
Premier League Night 10 (Manchester) winner
Premier League Night 11 (Birmingham) finalist
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