Luke Littler capitulates to suffer shock defeat after being booed by darts fans
As Michael van Gerwen completed one of the great comebacks of the Premier League season, Luke Littler's miserable week betrayed the first cracks of a teenage superstar feeling the strain
Luke Littler squandered an invincible hand as his trial by a Scouse jury turned into a nightmare. And as Michael van Gerwen completed one of the great comebacks of the 2025 BetMGM Premier League season, Luke the Nuke's miserable week betrayed the first cracks of a teenage superstar feeling the strain.
From 4-0 up, Littler missed a dart to make it 5-0 and two more for a 6-3 win after being greeted at Liverpool's M&S Bank arena by a chorus of boos - because of his football allegiances as a Manchester United fan. But to widespread disbelief, Van Gerwen clawed his way back to snatch a 6-5 win in the deciding leg as the league leader's advantage evaporated.
Littler had braced himself for a noisy reception, posting 'Bring on the boos Liverpool' on his social media. And before the match, he admitted: 'My approach is to expect the worst - and if it's not as bad as I feared, I'll take that as a positive for myself.'
Littler's walk-on was more businesslike than usual, reserving sideways glances only for his entourage by the runway and not risking eye contact with any detractors at close quarters.
When he stormed into what should have been an impregnable lead, His Nukeship looked in the mood to whitewash the three-times world champion and seven-times Premier League winner.
Littler took out 160, after stepping back to let the nonsense subside, to go 5-3 up and gestured playfully to the crowd to keep the noise down.
But as his scoring power dried up, Van Gerwen hit back to force a decider - and Littler couldn't turn the tap back on when it was needed.
He still tops the table, and remains the bookies' favourite for back-to-back Premier League triumphs in next month's play-offs at London's O2 arena.
But he was so unsettled by his rough ride from a Munich crowd in his German Grand Prix semi-final defeat by another Dutchman, Gian van Veen, on Easter Monday that he expressed relief at not having to return to the Fatherland on the European Tour until October.
And when Littler's badinage with the Merseyside gallery backfired 72 hours later, it capped his worst week as world champion.
The Liverpool audience was more upset by home favourite Stephen Bunting's 5-1 defeat against Rob Cross, which denied the 'Bullet' the extended homecoming party he craved.
Ten years ago, in his debut Premier League campaign, Bunting was wiped out 7-1 by at the same venue. Now the world No.4s remains rooted to the foot of the table and a long shot for the play-offs.
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