Game on! Luke Littler Bites Back Against Clayton on PDC Premier League Night 12
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Littler and Clayton pull clear of the chasing pack in Liverpool
Luke Littler confirmed our Premier League Darts predictions on Thursday by clinching his fourth nightly win of the competition, emphatically beating league leader Jonny Clayton 6-1 in front of a boisterous crowd at the Liverpool Arena.
Littler kicked off the night with a fairly straightforward 6-2 victory over world number two Luke Humphries before holding his nerve to edge Michael van Gerwen 6-5, despite MVG recording a three-dart average of 107.54 and pinning the most 180s of the night (14). Following his victory, Littler said:
“It was a good night. I’m very happy with myself. I was definitely focused. I wanted to win tonight and that’s what I’ve done. I’m very close to Jonny now, three points off. I’m going to go chasing, I want to finish top once again.”
Concerns are certainly growing around the performances of Humphries, who has not been in the top four since the second week of the tournament. Cool Hand has not won a night and currently sits in sixth place with 13 points, five points below Van Gerwen in fourth.
Despite the loss in the final, Clayton has firmly established himself as the biggest threat to the Nuke this year. The Ferret holds a three-point lead at the top of the standings and has now reached the final in each of the last three weeks, including in Rotterdam, where he defeated Littler 6-4.
The Ferret took down Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen 6-5 each en route to the final in Liverpool. He has pinned 76 180s and is averaging 97.40 in the competition, but his greatest strength has been his closing, where he is averaging 46.00% - the highest after 12 weeks.
With four weeks to go, Littler and Clayton are now the clear favourites to reach the Playoffs. The Premier League moves on to Aberdeen next week, before stopping in Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield. The Playoffs get underway on May 28 at the O2 Arena in London.
2026 PDC Premier League: Standings after Night 12
| Pos | Name | Pts | W | RU | SF | QF | 100+ | 140+ | 180 | A | HC | CR | C% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonny Clayton | 32 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 95 | 193 | 76 | 97.4 | 170 | 138/300 | 46.00% |
| 2 | Luke Littler | 29 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 84 | 117 | 88 | 100.5 | 170 | 126/293 | 43.00% |
| 3 | Gerwyn Price | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 75 | 101 | 58 | 98.89 | 170 | 106/228 | 46.49% |
| 4 | Michael van Gerwen | 18 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 78 | 109 | 61 | 97.65 | 170 | 96/238 | 40.34% |
| 5 | Gian van Veen | 14 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 139 | 110 | 44 | 95.37 | 167 | 89/213 | 41.78% |
| 6 | Luke Humphries | 13 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 92 | 123 | 56 | 100.35 | 164 | 81/224 | 36.16% |
| 7 | Stephen Bunting | 11 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 104 | 117 | 43 | 98.33 | 167 | 72/206 | 34.95% |
| 8 | Josh Rock | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 46 | 69 | 46 | 94.13 | 164 | 55/178 | 30.90% |
