"I’m not one of those who goes off and says, 'Yeah, I’m the best,' because I’m not" - Luke Littler shrugs off 'greatest darts player ever' tag

Luke Littler is in red-hot form, having just won a maiden Winmau World Masters title. He now makes a third consecutive appearance in the 2026 Premier League Darts, looking to regain the title that was painfully snatched away from him last year by the man who described him as the 'greatest darts player.'

After his most recent success, the 19-year-old is brimming with confidence. "It’s about to kick off, and there’s no better way to come into the competition than winning the Masters," he exclaimed in his press conference. "I’m full of confidence and I’ll be ready to go tomorrow."

He will be wanting to get off on the front foot in Newcastle, with the Premier League starting on February 5 in Newcastle. In his previous two appearances he topped the league phase on both occasions, winning on debut in 2024 before losing out in a thrilling final to Luke Humphries last year, something that he has not fully got over yet.

"Obviously it still hurts. It’s one of those games — I let Luke back into it at 5–5 and then after the second break he kicked on and played the better darts. But yeah, it’s a long 16 weeks and then week 17 at The O2."

Littler seems to be unbeatable in his pomp. After his Masters success, he has won every major title aside from the World Cup of Darts and the European Championship. That is despite him only featuring in his third year on the PDC Tour.

He played down his form, citing seven other great players. "I mean, we all know we’re good — that’s why we’re in the Premier League. We know we’re going to battle it out for 16 weeks straight against each other. It’s going to be interesting, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to the battles with everyone."

With all the records being broken and up for grabs, 'The Nuke' has only one target in sight: the title. "Just go with the flow and see what happens. Obviously, get some nightly wins on the board," he stated. "Try to break my own records — try and break the 180 record if I can — but the most important thing is to get to The O2 and hopefully get the trophy back."

Along with Littler, his close foe Humphries looks to be the closest to toppling the darting sensation. Littler does not see the pecking order at the top changing anytime soon. "I don’t think so. Obviously me and Luke are there to be beaten. Gian’s [van Veen] there to be beaten now as well," he admitted. "Playing Luke at the Masters, he’s changed as a player. Before, in the first few sets he might lose his head a bit and get frustrated, but I didn’t see any of that. Like Luke said, he’s changing — with his mentality and in himself — so yeah, Luke’s a brand-new player, and I can’t wait to play him week in, week out."

I wouldn’t really say that. I think that’s just on them. As a darts player, you’ve seen with me — I’ve tried changing darts — but it’s all in your head. You can’t change things too much. I don’t think Luke’s changed darts yet, but mentally you can see a big change.

In recent times, 'Cool Hand Luke' has been vocal about changes he is making to his throw in an attempt to continuously improve and find that extra gear. Littler is not really paying any attention to this.

"I wouldn’t really say that. I think that’s just on them. As a darts player, you’ve seen with me — I’ve tried changing darts — but it’s all in your head. You can’t change things too much. I don’t think Luke’s changed darts yet, but mentally you can see a big change."

He is the leader in the pack at the moment, and after his success in Milton Keynes Humphries was quick to sing his praises. The world number two labelled him as the 'greatest darts player that has ever lived.'

Being humble, Littler quickly put himself below Phil Taylor, but did not rule out one day being the best. "It’s really good to hear, but I’m not one of those who goes off and says, 'Yeah, I’m the best,' because I’m not. Phil Taylor will always be the best unless I somehow win more than him and do what he’s done for the sport. So we’ll see what happens in my career."

Later in the interview, he doubled down on the reasons why 16-time world champion is clear. "He is the greatest. Unless I go on and win 16 World Championships and 16 Matchplays — or 17 to get one over him — then yeah, I’ll be the best. But until someone breaks his records, he’ll always be the best," Littler stoutly stated.

The eight players in the Premier League will now have to juggle Thursday night action with Players Championship and Euro Tour events for the next few months, a challenging task. This is something that Littler has got used to, with him already experienced enough to pick and choose his way through the year. "I’ve looked at the calendar up until September and it’s absolutely packed," he acknowledged. "But I’m going into my third year now, I know what to expect. Especially those early days flying to Euro Tours — we’ll just see what happens over the year."

After stating that he felt 'drained' after the Masters title, the two-time world champion went back to the basic routine to switch off from darts. "Just like you normally would — chilling on the Xbox, packing a few cards, sending them off on eBay, just relaxing. I’m ready to go tomorrow night."

But for now, the Premier League is his main focus, with a repeat of the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship final against debutant Gian van Veen his opening task. "Anything can happen on the day. If you don’t turn up, you’re not going to win. Gian will be up for it — it’s his first game and he’ll want to make a good impression — but I’m there standing in the way and I want to start my Premier League right as well."

Despite basically winning everything that the sport has to offer, Littler is still motivated to continue in his quest to win more major titles, looking to tally up as many as possible while he dominates darts.

"Just doubling and tripling the titles I’ve already won," he said. "Coming into this year, I’ve got a lot of titles to defend. With the Worlds at the end of the year and that £500,000 prize money, if I can earn that before the Worlds then I’ve got nothing to lose ranking-wise going into it. But this year is about defending what I’ve won."

A huge ambition, previously stated, was to regain his Premier League title, in a field that is becoming more and more packed with a younger generation of darters, with van Veen and Josh Rock making their debuts. "We’re obviously the three youngest in the field. I’m here for the third consecutive year, and Josh and Gian are in it for the first time. They’ve just got to enjoy it. Tomorrow night, Gian will want to start his campaign with a win — but so do I."

"I don’t know how it’s going to go, especially if Newcastle lose tonight. I just want to get that first win on the board and start the campaign right," Littler said, focusing on the task at hand.

Last year, he had some discourse with the fans about the football, with Littler being a huge Manchester United fan. Their rival team, Manchester City, play Newcastle in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final ahead of this event, with expectation that there could be some more moments of Littler and the crowd going toe to toe.

However, he was not confident about The Magpies chances. "No — if it was 2–1 maybe, but 2–0 down going to the Etihad? Yeah, that’s not good."