He will know it is all about Qualifying for the Finals when everything is reset to decide the tournament on a single night, but Littler fans will be happy to see the World Number 1 picking up some momentum after a slower than expected start to the Premier League.
Luke Littler remains the player to beat, while Jonny Clayton will be keen to earn at least one win on Night 9 having been beaten in the opening match in each of the previous two weeks.
The second of those defeats came against Josh Rock, who finally earned a Premier League win, but the Northern Irishman remains bottom of the standings and has admitted he needs to win at least three of the remaining eight nights to have any hope of doing enough after beginning with seven losses in a row.
Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen are still in touch with the top four places, but have to start putting some consistent results together, while the big surprise is seeing Luke Humphries sitting outside of the top four.
The defending Champion will not be panicking about things just yet with just 2 points between himself and Michael van Gerwen, but it is a disappointing return when noting Luke Humphries has reached one Final in eight nights of play. His performances have remained very strong, but the World Number 2 has struggled with his doubling at key moments and that has also ended up seeing him beaten in the opening match on three occasions.
Over the next two Premier League Nights, Luke Humphries is in the other side of the bracket compared with Luke Littler, but that won't mean much if he cannot find some consistency with his performances at attacking the outer rim.
Michael van Gerwen to win & most 180s v Stephen Bunting: A number of the Premier League competitors decided to skip the two Players Championship events played earlier in the week, but both Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting were in decent form.
Michael van Gerwen had five wins across two events and Stephen Bunting had six, although neither were able to get themselves into the Quarter Final Round and beyond.
They won't worry too much about that as they open Night 9 of the Premier League and it does feel like van Gerwen is through the illness and any lingering effect it was having on him that saw him miss an earlier Night at the Premier League. His initial form on the return was pretty poor, but Michael van Gerwen has been playing really well over the last couple of weeks and that gives him the edge.
Three meetings against Stephen Bunting have all ended with van Gerwen wins this season and that will also give the Dutchman confidence.
Stephen Bunting produced some exceptional numbers over the last two weeks, but that has led to zero points added to his total- both matches were against Luke Littler. He will feel a similar level will see him win a lot more than he loses, but Bunting may find it tougher to get himself 'up' for the other challengers in the tournament with his numbers dipping in Night 5 and Night 6 compared with what has been produced in those defeats to Luke Littler.
Neither have been consistent with the maximum hitting, but Michael van Gerwen has been slightly stronger there and he is perhaps underestimated to win in that column in any winning effort in this Quarter Final.
Luke Humphries to win & both players over 1.5 180s v Gerwyn Price: The Quarter Final loss to Michael van Gerwen highlighted the issues that Luke Humphries continues to have in his bid to defend his Premier League title.
He is fifth in the table and faces one of the players in the top four, which makes this an important match for Luke Humphries.
Of course the same applies to Gerwyn Price, who did make the Play Offs last season and who has only been beaten in three Quarter Finals in eight nights of Premier League competition.
The most recent meeting between the players ended in a very strong win for Gerwyn Price and snapped a two match losing run against the World Number 2. Big scoring helped Price to that victory and he will need plenty more of that to stay with Luke Humphries in this Quarter Final.
Matches between the players have tended to be very competitive in the main and you have to anticipate this one being the same considering how much is on the line for both Humphries and Price.
Both should be able to hit at least two maximums barring one player dominating and rolling through the match.
The edge here is still with Luke Humphries, although backing against Gerwyn Price on the form that has has been producing consistently is never going to be easy.
One concern remains the low Check Out Percentage produced by Humphries, which is only higher than Josh Rock in the Premier League. That is not going to be good enough to see him into the Play Offs, but Luke Humphries has won a big European Tour title and you have to believe he will eventually get back to a usual level, hopefully beginning in this Quarter Final.
Luke Littler to win & most 180s v Gian van Veen: Back to back Nightly wins have pushed Luke Littler back into a familiar position of topping the Premier League standings.
Night 7 was a tough one overall, but the World Number 1 reminded people how difficult it is becoming for his main rivals to edge past him.
Things were much different in Berlin as Luke Littler produced some big averages and deserved to pick up the Nightly win.
He looks to have the momentum behind him to beat Gian van Veen who did not look close to his best on Night 8 having only just recovered from a hospital stay for Kidney Stones. Not being at his best in Berlin is not a surprise, but Gian van Veen had been struggling for form before that and that has seen him drop into 6th place in the Premier League standings after a very positive start to the tournament.
Gian van Veen does have a Premier League win over Luke Littler, which is testament to the strength of character having put that together soon after the World Championship Final destruction at the hands of the World Number 1. However, the most recent match between these two young stars ended in a win for Littler in a European Tour Final, and the much bigger maximum hitter can come through with the Match Double.
Jonny Clayton to win & Most 180s v Josh Rock: The first six Premier League nights were very productive for Jonny Clayton, but back to back Quarter Final defeats coupled with Luke Littler winning in both Dublin and Berlin means the Welshman has been knocked off the top of the standings.
Half of the Nights have been completed and Clayton will still be a short price to reach the Play Offs, but he will be keen to bounce back and put some more points on the board.
On Night 8, Jonny Clayton fell to Josh Rock to allow the latter to get off the mark in the Premier League, but it was not a high-quality match and the worst effort produced by Clayton in the tournament so far, while being the poorest performance by some distance in Quarter Final action.
Four wins across two Players Championship events earlier in the week will have restored some confidence and Jonny Clayton will believe that a slightly better performance than last week will help him overturn the result.
Josh Rock will be happy to be off the mark, but he was beaten in the Semi Final and the Premier League has just proven to be something that the Northern Irishman has been unable to deal with.
His power scoring has begun to pick up so there has to be some respect for Josh Rock, who is clearly better than what he has produced in the Premier League.
An average of more than two maximums per match makes the second part of the Match Double a bit more awkward, but Jonny Clayton has been able to punch in those big scores often enough to take on this price offered.
In Berlin, Jonny Clayton struggled to get his scoring on track and there were some concerns about the conditions that had been voiced by the players at the end of the Night 8 action. The hope is Manchester will prove to be much better for those heading to the oche and Jonny Clayton can complete the Match Double and get his points tally moving again.
MY PICKS: Michael van Gerwen to Win & Most 180s @ 3.25 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Luke Humphries to Win & Both Players Over 1.5 180s @ 2.50 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Luke Littler to Win & Most 180s @ 1.95 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Jonny Clayton to Win & Most 180s @ 3.25 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Darts 2026: 42-54, - 3.46 Units (93 Units Staked, - 3.72% Yield)
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