Following a sluggish start to the tournament by his usual high standards, the Nuke has finally kicked into gear by claiming two of the last three Premier League nights.
The 19-year-old was victorious in Cardiff after beating Jonny Clayton 6-4, and then somehow came from 5-0 down to beat Gerwyn Price 6-5 in Dublin, producing one of the most extraordinary comebacks in the competition's history.
Littler’s surge into the play-offs puts him just three points behind table topper Clayton, ahead of his quarter-final showdown against Stephen Bunting in Berlin. The reigning world champion secured a 6-3 victory over the Bullet last week and will be quietly confident of reaching another final.
Humphries to end drought?
While the world No. 1 is the favourite to claim glory in Germany, Luke Humphries is perfectly poised to record his first nightly win of 2026.
The reigning Premier League champion has only made the final on one occasion so far, and that ended in a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Clayton on night six in Nottingham.
But the 31-year-old got revenge on the Welshman by beating him 8-6 in the Belgian Darts Open final on Sunday to claim his ninth European Tour title.
Humphries was at his menacing best throughout the tournament as he recorded ton-plus averages in wins over Dirk van Duijvenbode, Jermaine Wattimena and Michael van Gerwen.
A surge of power scoring and a barrage of 180s would have surprised no one in Belgium, with Cool Hand also finding consistency with his finishing, the part of his game that has prevented him from winning a Premier League night.
The world No. 2 recorded at least 45% on the doubles in three of his five matches, and that improvement will fill him with confidence ahead of his visit to Berlin. As it stands, only Josh Rock has performed worse than Humphries on the checkouts (35.15%).
Should Humphries find his range on the outer ring and continue his relentless treble hitting, he will have the perfect recipe to claim glory on night eight, beginning with a quarter-final showdown against Van Gerwen.
Rock closing in on unwanted record
A nine-darter finish in Belfast is the only positive Rock can take from a dismal debut Premier League campaign so far.
The Northern Irishman sits bottom of the table after tasting seven successive defeats, and his position could get even worse as he faces back-to-back quarter-finals against Clayton.
Truthfully, Rock hasn’t reached the standards expected of him when the tournament began. Normally excellent against world-class players, the 24-year-old has struggled to compete with his 91 average and his 21.67% on the checkouts.
Rock was even whitewashed 6-0 by Price last week after averaging just 84.21, while his confidence will have been derailed even further during the Belgian Darts Open as he lost 6-4 against Kim Huybrechts in the last 32 after going 4-2 up.
At this point, finishing in the play-offs looks far beyond his reach, and restoring pride will be his aim in the final eight nights as he’s currently two weeks away from equalling an unwanted Premier League record.
Quarter-final exits in Berlin and Manchester would see him match Glen Durrant’s run of nine matches without a win in 2021.
The former Premier League champion is the only player to fail to win a match during a campaign after being eliminated in week nine under the old format.
Since the new format was introduced four years ago, no player has failed to win fewer than two matches in a season, and Rock could become the first if he isn’t careful.