Momentum has certainly shifted through the 2024 Premier League Darts season so far with Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries and now Luke Litter enjoying periods of dominance.
'Mighty Mike' earned three successive tournament victories on nights two, three and four; 'Cool Hand' took the plaudits on nights six, seven and eight; with 'The Nuke' winning six consecutive match victories to earn night nine and 10 wins.
Heading into Night 11, Littler now leads the Premier League table on 23 points, one ahead of world champion Humphries and five ahead of third-placed Nathan Aspinall. 'MVG' rounds off the final four as things stand.
The 17-year-old starts his threepeat campaign with a battle against Rob Cross – an opponent he shares a 1-1 record with this season, winning 6-5 on Night Two before suffering a 3-6 reverse to 'Voltage' on Night Five.
The statistics favour the Premier League rookie – Littler boasts a higher three-dart average (99.43-96.83), more 180s (66-35), a higher percentage of legs won (54.15-48%) and a higher percentage of legs won against the throw (33.66-21.92%). Cross does boast a better checkout percentage (39.34-37.63%).
Littler is a short 2/5 to claim the victory, with value added with a Match Double (win and most 180s) at 8/11. Adding the highest checkout to the party – completing a Match Treble at 21/10 - is also backable.
The winner will face either Luke Humphries or Peter Wright in the semi-final. Since his winning run, 'Cool Hand' has suffered two quarter-final exits to Littler and Michael Smith but should bounce back against an improved 'Snakebite'.
Wright has just two semi-final appearances all season and lost 6-4 last week to Gerwyn Price despite averaging 109.52 in that defeat. Humphries is 2/9 to claim the victory, with a 180 boosted Match Double paying 4/7.
Humphries has won both meetings this season by an aggregate score of 12-5. Humphries to win either 6-2 (4/1) or 6-3 (15/4) seems the ballpark for a match result.
In the bottom half of the draw, Smith and Price square off before 'MVG' and Aspinall take centre stage. Smith and Price met in the semi-final last week with the latter averaging 102.88 in a 6-3 victory.
'Bully Boy' did topple Humphries with a 100.80 average of his own in the quarter-final, so both players share solid form. With difficulty picking a winner, the over 9.5 legs market at 5/6 seems a reasonable shout – two of their four meetings have gone the distance (11 legs).
The final match sees 'The Asp', who has reached at least the semi-final in six of the last seven weeks, take on 'MVG' who has won just one match in six nights. The Dutchman owns the series 2-0 with both victories coming by a 6-4 scoreline.
The Nathan Aspinall upset is a handsome 11/8, which on current form is extremely palatable.
Best Bets – Four-Fold (10.81)
Luke Humphries to win and throw most 180s (v Peter Wright) - 4/7
Luke Little to win and throw most 180s (v Rob Cross) - 8/11
Over 9.5 legs in Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith – 5/6
Nathan Aspinall to beat Maichael van Gerwen – 11/8
