Littler cuts gap to Clayton with win in Liverpool

Luke Littler overcame a chorus of boos in Liverpool to strengthen his grip on a Premier League play-off place with an impressive 6-1 win over Jonny Clayton.

Manchester United fan Littler, 19, was booed throughout the night on Merseyside, but he kept his cool to claim his fourth nightly win in week 12.

The world champion saw off Luke Humphries 6-2 in the quarter-finals, but was pushed to the limit by Michael van Gerwen in the last four.

With the top four in the Premier League table going through to the finals night, Clayton leads the way overall, three points clear of second-placed Littler, who is 15 ahead of Gian van Veen in fifth.

Clayton and Littler are clear of the rest with four league-phase nights to go before finals night at London's O2 Arena on 28 May.

When comparing his reception in Rotterdam last Thursday to the one he got in Liverpool, Littler said: "Rotterdam was way louder than this tonight.

"There was a little bit [of booing] but this week was nothing compared to last week.

"I've just got to forget about it. I was definitely focused and wanted to win tonight, and that's what I've done."

Littler has finished top of the table in the previous two years and is determined to do so again, saying: "I'm very close to Jonny now and I'm going to go chasing.

"I want to finish top once again and if it's not to be then it's not to be, but there are still four weeks left to play for."

Littler, who was booed in Rotterdam last week following his exchange with Dutch number one Gian van Veen in Manchester three weeks ago, showed his resilience to secure another five points.

He quickly raced into a 4-0 lead over Clayton in the final after capitalising on missed doubles from the 2021 Premier League champion.

While Clayton was only able to land one out of his six double attempts, Littler averaged more than 104 and had a 60% checkout rate to secure victory.

Perhaps one of the shocks of this year's Premier League is seeing defending champion Humphries down in sixth and at risk of failing to qualify for the play-offs altogether.

The world number two has been far from his best in the competition he won last May, with just seven match wins after the 12th week.

After 16 weeks last year, Humphries had won 21 matches and three nights. He is yet to win a night this time around.

With Van Gerwen - currently in the fourth and final play-off spot - picking up points, it was crucial for Humphries to do so too.

Humphries had targeted a night win in his pre-match interview to throw him right into the mix for the top four.

But, once again, his doubles let him down.

His average of 99.39 was higher than Littler's but his checkout rate was down at 18%, compared to the world champion's 46%.

With four nights left before the play-offs, Humphries is five points adrift of Van Gerwen in fourth.

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

Quarter-finals

Gian van Veen 6-4 Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting 5-6 Jonny Clayton

Josh Rock 3-6 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Humphries 2-6 Luke Littler

Semi-final

Gian van Veen 5-6 Jonny Clayton

Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Luke Littler

Final

Jonny Clayton 1-6 Luke Littler

Thursday, 30 April - P&J Live, Aberdeen

Quarter-finals

Josh Rock v Luke Littler

Stephen Bunting v Gerwyn Price

Jonny Clayton v Gian van Veen

Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures compiled according to the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.

Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London's O2 Arena on 28 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.

If players are level on points after the 16 weeks, then places are decided by nights won and then matches won.