The prodigious talent Luke Littler picked up his first night victory of the campaign with a stunning performance in Belfast last Thursday defeating world champion Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall on his way to the crown.
The 17-year-old notched seven 180s against 'Cool Hand Luke' in the quarter-final, before handling 'MVG' 6-3 and 'The Asp' 6-4 as he moved up to second in the Premier League standings, four points behind Humphries.
Night 10, which takes place at the AO Arena in Manchester on Thursday evening, sees a quick re-match between Littler and Van Gerwen in the second quarter-final.
The pair have faced off four times in the 2024 campaign with the series between the two tied at 2-2 - 'Mighty Mike' claimed Night Two and Night Four victories while 'The Nuke' claimed success on Nights Seven and Nine.
Statistically, Littler out averages 'MVG' (99.83-99.18), has hit more 180s (59-48), has won a higher percentage of his legs (52.54-50.63%), although Van Gerwen boasts a much superior checkout percentage (46.24-36.90%).
However, given the recent form - 'MVG' has just one win in his last six matches, whilst Littler has won four of his last six, a victory for the youngster 8/11 is palatable, as is the Match Treble – win, most 180s and highest single checkout – at 15/4.
The winner of that match will take on either Nathan Aspinall or Rob Cross in the semi-final – with 'The Asp' certainly the form man between the two.
Cross has gone three weeks without winning a match and has just two wins in his last seven outings. He was jettisoned by bottom-dweller Peter Wright last week 6-3 where he averaged a mere 86.29 per three darts.
Aspinall, meanwhile, has made four of the last six-night finals – winning once and finishing runner-up three times. He may not 'wow' in the averages, but he does have the knack of winning legs against the throw (35.63%), with only 'Cool Hand Luke' winning legs at a higher rate.
Straight Evens on the Aspinall victory is just too good to pass up in this contest, but it would be no surprise to see Cross claim a win.
There are two short odds favourites in the bottom half of the draw with Humphries and Gerwyn Price both priced at 4/9 to reach the semi-finals against Michael Smith and Wright respectively.
Humphries ran into an on-fire Littler last week, but picked up three-night victories in a row before that and should return to form here – he still tops the statistical charts in several categories by a large margin. 'Cool Hand' leads the season series 3-0 with each contest going under 10.5 legs – combining the same scenario pays at around 4/6.
Meanwhile, Price and Wright could easily bring an upset. 'The Iceman' has won just one of his last six quarter-finals, while 'Snakebite' has won two of his last three.
Best bets – Treble (8.5/1)
Nathan Aspinall to beat Rob Cross – Evens
Peter Wright to beat Gerwyn Price – 7/4
Luke Littler to beat Michael van Gerwen – 8/11
