“I don’t see this slide being arrested anytime soon” - Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen head into autumn majors with very different questions to answer

Michael van Gerwen will arrive at the World Grand Prix without an individual major quarter-final to his name in 2026. Luke Humphries heads to Leicester after consecutive early exits at the World Matchplay and World Series of Darts Finals, with his position as Luke Littler’s closest challenger facing renewed scrutiny.

Both have continued to win outside the individual majors. Van Gerwen has claimed the Bahrain Darts Masters, Nordic Darts Masters and Players Championship 15 this season, while Humphries has collected three Players Championship titles and defeated Littler in the US Darts Masters final at Madison Square Garden.

Amsterdam was their final televised stop before the Grand Prix. Van Gerwen missed six match darts during a first-round defeat to Daryl Gurney, while Humphries surrendered a 6-3 lead against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

On the latest DartsNews Podcast, host Kieran Wood joined Nicolas Gayer and Samuel Gill to assess both players before the calendar moves through five majors in Leicester, Dortmund, Wolverhampton, Minehead and Alexandra Palace.

Van Gerwen recovered from 3-0 down against Gurney with successive legs of 13, 13, 14, 15 and 13 darts. That run carried the defending champion into a 5-3 lead, but six missed match darts allowed Gurney to force a decider and complete the comeback.

“It just seemed like a very un-Van Gerwen performance,” Wood said. “But I don’t know if that is un-Van Gerwen in 2026. He missed six match darts and didn’t seem that up for it. He seemed a bit flat for the whole match, which was strange given the circumstances and where he was playing.”

Van Gerwen had already lost to Gary Anderson in the last 16 of the World Championship, Damon Heta in the opening round of the World Masters, James Wade at the UK Open and Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second round of the World Matchplay. He also finished sixth in the Premier League and missed Finals Night.

The same season has still produced three tournament victories. Van Gerwen defeated Gian van Veen to win the Bahrain Darts Masters, survived a match dart against Humphries in the Nordic Darts Masters final and averaged 122.34 while whitewashing Martin Schindler during his Players Championship 15 title run.

“He’s neither here nor there,” Gill said. “He’ll either put in a performance like he did last year, when he wasn’t at his best but ended up winning the title, or he will go out in the first round."

“There are always soundbites from Vincent van der Voort about how well he’s playing in practice, and he has been on Twitch practising with Van der Voort. I think something might be coming for Van Gerwen. All of this could be leading towards another major win," he added. “But it is a strange one. How up for it is he? If he can’t get up for it in front of his home crowd, when is he going to get up for it?”

Van Gerwen’s two Players Championship appearances in Den Bosch delivered another sharp contrast. Benjamin Pratnemer defeated him 6-3 in the opening round of PC29, but the Dutchman gained revenge 24 hours later and reached the PC30 quarter-finals, recording a 107 average along the way.

The ranking money removed during the Den Bosch double-header left Van Gerwen ninth on the provisional Order of Merit, behind Josh Rock and Danny Noppert as well as the six players already above him.

Gayer also raised Van Gerwen’s streamed practice sessions with Van der Voort during the discussion. “I think this whole development with him streaming practice on Twitch is a good sign,” he said. “He is searching for something to get his motivation back, get back on the practice board and improve again. It’s good to see him trying to work on his game, and I think we will see signs of that in the near future.”

Humphries completed a hat-trick of Players Championship titles by defeating Brendan Dolan in the PC28 final in August. His success in New York came through wins over Leonard Gates, Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen before an 8-7 victory over Littler, while the two Lukes also combined to win the World Cup for England.

His individual major campaign has included deciding-leg final defeats against Littler at the World Masters and Premier League. Cameron Menzies then eliminated Humphries in the opening round of the World Matchplay despite averaging two points fewer, with the world number two converting only seven of his 23 attempts at double.

“It’s another major where he came in talking a good game and, even after the first win, was still talking a good game. Then it all fell flat in the early stages,” Wood said. “This time it was an inspired Van Duijvenbode in front of his home crowd, but off the back of the World Matchplay, it is another early exit. There are some worrying signs as we get into this busy part of the year. Ross Smith, Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are coming into form, while Humphries seems to be stumbling a little bit.”

Humphries has faced Littler in each of his last four major finals and lost all four, including a 6-1 defeat in the 2025 World Grand Prix final. His US Darts Masters victory in June remains his most recent win over the world number one.

“He has that pressure to trouble Luke Littler all the time and be the player who goes against him,” Gill said. “When it doesn’t work, and when he’s losing to him in finals, it becomes: ‘What have I got to do?’ Then you can go down that spiral of not being able to win and start losing earlier and earlier in tournaments. I can even see Humphries losing early at the World Grand Prix. He might have a good Worlds, but I don’t see this slide being arrested anytime soon.”

Humphries did not enter either Players Championship event staged between Amsterdam and the World Grand Prix. “He tries to take the Littler route where he won’t play most of the tournaments,” Gill continued. “He doesn’t need to play them all, but when he turned up to the ProTours and won one, it was: ‘I’ve still got that in my locker. I can still do it.’"

“He needs to play more of these tournaments because, if you’re not getting your arm in and getting that match practice, you’re going to arrive at these events cold," he added. “The majors are coming thick and fast, so this will be the true test for him. A few more early losses and it becomes quite hard to stop.”

Humphries remains second on the Order of Merit, although reigning European champion Gian van Veen has moved to within £10,000 of him on the live rankings. Humphries’ last four major finals have all been played against Littler, and he is the only player to have beaten the world number one in a televised final during 2026.

“When he turns it on, he can beat Luke Littler,” Gill said when asked whether Humphries remains the world number one’s principal rival. “He’s probably the only player who can right now. Until somebody else, maybe James Wade, Price or Clayton, does that, we can’t really have that argument. But it is worrying for Humphries.”

Gayer answered the same question with Humphries still at the front of the chasing pack. “I still think Luke Humphries is the second-best darts player in the world,” he said. “If you told me Littler wouldn’t win the World Grand Prix, I would still pick Humphries as the next name.

“I would still say he is the main challenger, but he has to prove that again within the next couple of weeks and months if he is to remain the top dog when it comes to challenging Littler.”

Six-time World Grand Prix champion Van Gerwen begins his Leicester campaign against Ryan Joyce on Monday night. Humphries, the 2023 champion and last year’s runner-up, opens against Dave Chisnall on Tuesday before the autumn schedule continues with the European Championship, Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and World Championship.