Ultimately they came up short, which is a disappointment for a sport that has been dominated by Littler over the last twelve months, but the fact that neither rolled over for the top player in the World can only be a positive.
We will get to see how much of a positive the rest of the top names in the field will take from those Semi Final and Final matches at the World Masters when the Premier League begins on Thursday and is played through to the end of May.
Luke Littler has appeared in the Premier League twice before, but he will not be the defending Champion this year having won on his debut, but beaten by rival Luke Humphries last year.
These two players have faced one another in the Final in each of the last two years and are expected to be the dominant forces in the tournament again.
It is Luke Littler who has topped the final standings in each of the last two years having competed in 15/32 Finals in the weekly events and he has only lost his first match seven times- a player who clearly gets stronger and stronger as he builds the matches under his belt continues to be the one to beat, although he is expected to be followed into the Semi Final by Luke Humphries who has finished second in each of the last two years before splitting title wins.
Both should be capable of moving through to the next Semi Finals at the O2 Arena in May, but picking another two players to head through with the two Lukes is a tougher task.
With some of the external criticism clearly getting to Stephen Bunting, you have to believe the World Number 7 is going to be playing with additional pressure having continued to proclaim he deserves his place in the Premier League. He finished bottom of the standings last season and things could spiral for Bunting if he is not able to make a fast start in 2026, and it is hard to make a case for him to finish in the top four.
The other five players making up the eight all will have their backers- Josh Rock is making his debut in the Premier League, but is clearly talented enough to find some consistent rhythm to become very dangerous, while Gian van Veen is going to go very close if he can deal with the nerves of playing in this format every week for the first time.
Michael van Gerwen did not have a good World Masters, but he reached two Finals in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia last month and has so much experience in the Premier League, while Gerwyn Price looks to have continued his consistently good form and is the one player that seems to be avoid being intimidated by the current top two in the World Rankings.
And Jonny Clayton is a former winner- this is his fourth appearance in the Premier League and he has yet to miss out on the Playoffs, which makes his short odds for finishing bottom look disrespectful.
Unsurprisingly Luke Littler will go into the Premier League as favourite, and he will likely be a favourite to win every Night over the course of the tournament.
He has not won on Night 1 in either of the last two years and Littler would have put in a lot of mental effort in winning the Masters on Sunday, which could leave him vulnerable.
However, he is in the weaker half of the draw and you would make him the favourite if he can beat Gian van Veen in the Quarter Final.
Michael van Gerwen is perhaps the most intriguing price to earn a spot in the Playoff in May, but there will be no outright selections after thinking about backing Josh Rock to finish bottom in his debut season, but believing things could unravel for Stephen Bunting for a second year in a row.
Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock: Both players had a decent showing at the World Masters, but would have been disappointed with how the tournament ended.
Jonny Clayton may be particularly aggrieved having blown a big lead in the 4-3 defeat to Gerwyn Price, while Josh Rock did reach the Quarter Final before being crushed by Luke Littler.
Both will be looking to make a fast start to the Premier League and these are the kind of Quarter Final matches that can make a big impact in the final standings. The likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will have the consistency for enough deep runs so the points that can be produced against the others are that much more important, which puts some pressure on both Clayton and Rock.
The Welshman is a former Premier League Winner and that experience may give him the edge- he looked to be scoring a little better than Josh Rock at the World Masters and Clayton may just have the stronger finishing that gives him the edge in this opening 2026 Premier League match.
Luke Littler to win & over 3.5 180s: After the crushing win in the World Championship Final, Luke Littler will be keen to keep the dominance going against Gian van Veen, one of his potential big rivals on the Tour over the coming twelve months.
He started slowly when these two met in Saudi Arabia last month, but Luke Littler rallied and he has the consistency of the power scoring that can take him away from the World Number 3.
Gian van Veen does push Littler with his own heavy scoring, but he has been feeling a pressure facing his old rival and matches have tended to fall away from him.
Big 180 hitting encourages Luke Littler to do the same and you have to expect the top player in the world to continue to hit those big trebles in this Quarter Final.
Luke Littler remains the big maximum hitter on the Tour and was in strong enough form to win the World Masters on Sunday.
Perhaps that means he has some fatigue to shake off, even four days later, which is maybe the best chance Gian van Veen will have in winning his debut match in the Premier League.
It all feels unlikely though and Littler should be able to find at least four maximums in any winning effort on Night 1.
Gerwyn Price over 2.5 180s & 1+ 180 checkout: There is no doubt that Gerwyn Price feels inspired when it comes to battling either of the two Lukes at the top of the World Rankings.
He got the better of Humphries in Saudi Arabia and beat Littler in Bahrain last month, while the Ice Man was a dart away from beating the latter in the World Masters Semi Final last week.
The layers are very much aware of the form that Gerwyn Price has been putting together over the last twelve months and the head to head with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.
This is reflected in the price for this Night 1 Quarter Final and it should be noted that Gerwyn Price has won the last five matches against Luke Humphries in the best of eleven Leg format. During that time Luke Humphries has won a best of thirteen Leg match as well as beating Price in the Grand Slam Semi Final 16-13, but the shorter formats have tended to lean in favour of the Welshman.
He is odds against to reach six Legs first on Thursday, but that is also down to the respect that Luke Humphries deserves after putting in some top quality performances at the World Masters.
Luke Humphries is keen to build on that run to the Final and he was throwing with real confidence last week, which suggests this is a Quarter Final that could go nine or more Legs.
Instead of backing a winner, it may pay out to look for Gerwyn Price to hit a couple of statistical marks.
He continues to hit plenty of 180s and Price will be looking to put a combination finish or two on the board in his bid to earn another victory over Luke Humphries.
Gerwyn Price had six triple digit checkouts in his four matches at the Masters and he looks capable of finding at least one in this Quarter Final to go with some big maximum hitting.
Michael van Gerwen to Win & Stephen Bunting most 180s: In a race to six, you would naturally feel the player hitting the most maximums would win.
In a lot of cases that will be true, but two of the last four races to six legs between these two players has seen the player with more 180s actually go on to lose.
Last week at the Masters, Stephen Bunting's maximum hitting was not the issue, but his finishing has been and he has lost to Michael van Gerwen twice last month, which is going to be an obstacle to overcome.
It wasn't the Masters that van Gerwen would have expected, but there are definitely stronger signs coming into the latest edition of the Premier League after missing the Playoff last year.
There have been more maximums thrown by MvG last month than we have come to expect from him in recent times, but he is still a little short of his absolute best. He still scores well enough and will also finish with some authority that may give him the edge in this Quarter Final and it is a big quote for the Dutchman to win a match in which he throws fewer maximums.
Stephen Bunting will likely need to win three or four Legs to ensure this happens, but both matches in the Middle East last month ended with ten Legs played and that may be enough for the former 'People's Champion' to hit the most maximums, even in a losing effort.
MY PICKS: Jonny Clayton @ 2.25 Ladbrokes (1 Unit)
Luke Littler to Win & Over 3.5 180s @ 2.00 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Gerwyn Price Over 2.5 180s & 1+ 100+ Checkouts @ 2.90 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Michael van Gerwen to Win & Stephen Bunting Most 180s @ 3.20 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Darts 2026: 5-6, + 0.79 Units (11 Units Staked, + 7.18% Yield)
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