Preview Premier League Darts 2026 Night 12 in Liverpool: Two Lukes face off as Humphries looks to keep playoff hopes alive

On Thursday evening, April 23rd, Night 12 of the 2026 Premier League Darts is on the schedule. This time the players travel to Liverpool, England. In the headline quarter-final match, the two Lukes face off as Luke Humphries meets Luke Littler, with plenty at stake for both players.

Liverpool first joined the Premier League as a host city in 2008. That was the eleventh round of the competition, with Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld among those going head-to-head. The Power convincingly beat the Dutchman 8-2 on that occasion. Since then, Liverpool has remained a permanent stop in the Premier League.

Plenty of memorable matches have been played here. In 2014, for instance, Michael van Gerwen whitewashed Phil Taylor 7-0 while averaging 109.59. In 2017, Adrian Lewis averaged 111.52 to defeat Raymond van Barneveld 7-4. To top it off, Jackpot also threw a nine-darter.

Since the new format was introduced in 2022, we have seen four different nightly winners in Liverpool. The first edition under this setup went to Jonny Clayton, who beat Joe Cullen 6-4 in the final. A year later, this league night was snapped up by Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman proved too strong for Michael Smith in the decider, winning 6-4.

In 2024, Luke Littler was the standout here. He defeated Rob Cross 6-2 in the final, averaging just over 105. Last year, Gerwyn Price took the night. With averages of 106.74, 105.27, and 104.43, he beat Chris Dobey, Rob Cross, and Luke Humphries in the final, respectively.

The night opens with Gian van Veen against Gerwyn Price. There is plenty at stake for the Dutchman in particular. The Giant has won his opening match just once in the last six weeks. As a result, he currently sits sixth in the table, four points behind fourth-placed Michael van Gerwen. He also has yet to win a night despite reaching four finals. A first nightly title would be timely if he wants to keep his play-off hopes alive.

Price, however, is about the worst possible opponent Van Veen could have drawn. Beyond the fact that the Welshman has been in strong form for weeks and therefore sits third in the standings, the Dutchman also has a poor record against The Iceman. The pair have met 13 times in total, with Price winning no fewer than 11 of those encounters.

Price has also clearly had the upper hand over the Dutchman in this Premier League campaign. They have already faced each other four times in the competition, and the Welshman has won three of those four matches. Only in Belfast did Van Veen edge The Iceman 6-5.

Next up are Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton. Bunting can still dream of the play-offs, though it will be tough. On 11 points he sits second from bottom, five behind Michael van Gerwen. One nightly win would put him back in touch. The Bullet has regularly made the semi-finals in recent weeks, but last week in Rotterdam he went down without a fight, 6-1, to Josh Rock. And with Clayton he now faces the form player of this Premier League.

The Ferret is the man of the competition this year. He has won no fewer than four of the eleven league nights and sits comfortably on top with 29 points. The Welshman can surely be pencilled in for Finals Night. Last week in Rotterdam he again won the night by beating Luke Littler 6-4 in the final.

Bunting and Clayton have already met three times in this Premier League. Clayton has won twice and Bunting once. In total they have faced each other 24 times. Clayton also leads there with 14 victories.

The third match of the night is between Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock. At the start of the campaign, most would have said the Dutchman would collect two easy points here, but after eleven weeks that is no longer a given. While the Northern Irishman began his campaign very sluggishly, he has been on a solid surge in recent weeks. Rocky has won his opening match in each of the last four weeks, putting him on 8 points. He still occupies last place, but one or two nightly wins could bring him back into the play-off picture, even if that remains a very tall order.

Van Gerwen currently sits virtually in the final play-off spot. With 16 points he still has a clear view of Finals Night, but both Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen are breathing down his neck. His showing at the European Darts Grand Prix last weekend, however, offers little encouragement for a big night here. Although he reached the quarter-finals, he produced match averages of 91.37, 88.61 and 82.57 across his three games. Those are numbers that do not suit Van Gerwen. That said, it must be noted that “Mighty Mike” has, at times in the Premier League, again shown flashes of his old level.

The head-to-head also clearly favors the Dutchman. In 14 previous meetings, Van Gerwen has beaten Rock no fewer than 10 times. In the Premier League he has also been too strong for the Northern Irishman twice so far.

Finally we get a showdown between the two Lukes. Luke Littler faces Luke Humphries. For Littler, Finals Night already looks assured. With 24 points he sits firmly in second place, and given his talent it seems unlikely he will let that slip. Last week in Rotterdam he reached the final, but Clayton proved too strong there with a 6-4 win. Even so, the 19-year-old has already won three nights.

Humphries, however, still has everything to play for. Before the competition he was, along with Littler, widely tipped as a lock for the play-offs, but that has not materialized. “Cool Hand Luke” sits in a meagre fifth place after eleven weeks. He also has yet to win a single night, which does not match his quality. In the coming weeks he will have to overturn a three-point deficit to Michael van Gerwen. If anyone can do it, it is Humphries, but he will need to start winning nights. Van Gerwen will also keep picking up points in the weeks ahead.

Looking at their previous meetings, the world champion holds a slight edge in this Premier League. He has beaten Humphries twice, while “Cool Hand Luke” has defeated Littler once. A striking stat is that all three matches ended 6-5. So we can expect a tight contest that may once again be settled in a last-leg decider.