Premier League Darts 2026 Roundup | Luke Littler thrashes Jonny Clayton to silence Liverpool boos and close gap at top of table

Luke Littler produced a dominant display to win Night 12 of the 2026 Premier League Darts in Liverpool, thrashing Jonny Clayton 6-1 in a meeting of the top two in the league table.

The victory sees Littler continue his relentless run of form in recent weeks, closing the gap on Clayton after the Welshman’s back-to-back nightly wins in Brighton and Rotterdam had established him as the man to beat.

Littler averaged over 104 and fired in a flurry of maximums to overwhelm the league leader, sealing victory with a clinical 58 finish to cap a one-sided final at the M&S Bank Arena.

Despite the defeat, Clayton remains top of the standings on 32 points, with Littler now just three points behind on 29 as the race for the play-offs continues to intensify.

Clayton was pushed all the way in his opening match, edging past Stephen Bunting 6-5 in a tense quarter-final. Both players missed chances to take control late on, but Clayton held his nerve in the decider to progress.

The Welshman then came through another deciding-leg battle in the semi-finals, defeating Gian van Veen 6-5. Van Veen missed the bull for a potential 167 match-winning finish, and Clayton capitalised, cleaning up 46 to book his place in yet another weekly final.

For Littler, the route was more emphatic in the quarter-finals. The world champion punished a series of missed doubles from Luke Humphries to seal a convincing 6-2 win, taking full control early in the contest.

He was then involved in one of the matches of the season against Michael van Gerwen. Despite Van Gerwen producing nine 180s, three 11-darters and averaging over 107, Littler found a way to edge a 6-5 thriller. A mid-match darts change proved pivotal, helping him recover from a slow start before sealing victory with a 46 finish on D20 in the deciding leg.

A clash between first and second in the table promised a tight contest, but it quickly turned into a one-sided display.

Both players opened strongly, trading maximums in the opening leg, but it was Littler who struck first, punishing a missed bull from Clayton to take the early lead. From there, the world champion took complete control.

Back-to-back breaks of throw followed as Littler’s scoring power and finishing proved too much, with a 68 checkout extending his advantage before further missed chances from Clayton were ruthlessly punished to make it 4-0. At that stage, the result was already slipping away from the league leader.

Clayton eventually got on the board to avoid a whitewash, but Littler remained in command throughout. Another clinical visit left him one leg away, and he made no mistake, sealing the 6-1 win with a composed 58 finish on D20.

It was a statement performance from Littler, underlining why he has been Clayton’s closest challenger throughout the campaign.

Night 12 in Liverpool could prove a pivotal one in shaping the play-off race, with results elsewhere significantly tightening the battle behind the leading pair.

Humphries saw his hopes of defending the Premier League title take another major blow. As mentioned already, the world number one was beaten 6-2 by Littler, but more damaging than the result itself is what it means for the table.

Another early exit leaves Humphries losing ground at a critical stage of the campaign, with his struggles on the doubles continuing to undermine otherwise competitive performances.

There was also a setback for Gerwyn Price, who began the night third in the standings but fell 6-4 to Van Veen in the opening quarter-final. That defeat pulls Price back into the congested battle for the play-off places rather than allowing him to strengthen his position.

With Van Veen and Van Gerwen both picking up points on the night, the gap in that section of the table continues to narrow, setting up an increasingly tense run-in over the coming weeks.