Preview Premier League Darts 2026 Night 13 in Aberdeen: Humphries-Van Gerwen clash as playoff race heats-up with Littler and Clayton eyeing-up fifth nightly win

The Premier League Darts is nearing the decisive phase of the season. Thursday night brings round thirteen, with the roadshow touching down in Aberdeen, Scotland. With only a handful of regular nights to go, the tension rises each week and every point grows in importance in the battle for a play-off spot.

Aberdeen has long been one of the most cherished stops on the calendar. Not just for the fans, but for many players as well. The Scottish faithful are renowned for their passion and traditionally create a raucous atmosphere. At the same time, English darters in particular often find they cannot count on much sympathy in this setting. Still, many players acknowledge Aberdeen as one of the most atmospheric nights of the season.
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When darts fans think back to Aberdeen, one moment springs to mind immediately: John Henderson’s entrance in 2019. The Scot was added as a challenger that evening and was set to face Michael van Gerwen.

Accompanied by a bagpiper, Henderson took to the stage, and the arena erupted. In a cauldron-like atmosphere, he ground out a 6-6 draw against Van Gerwen. The footage of that walk-on is now among the most-watched entrances in Premier League history.

Aberdeen has featured on the Premier League calendar since 2006 and has seen countless top players grace the stage over the years. In the inaugural edition, the oche hosted the likes of Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Wayne Mardle, and Roland Scholten.

Statistically, Aberdeen also holds a special place in the record books. Two nine-darters have been thrown in this host city. Van Barneveld hit one, at the time only the second perfect leg ever in the Premier League. Two years later, Taylor repeated the feat.

In addition, Aberdeen remains the venue of the highest average ever at a televised tournament. In 2016, Van Gerwen beat Michael Smith 7-1 with a phenomenal 123.40 average. Nearly ten years on, that record still stands.

The last four seasons have each produced a different nightly winner in Aberdeen. In 2022, Jonny Clayton came out on top. The Welshman first beat crowd favourite Gary Anderson before seeing off Peter Wright. In the final, Clayton again got the better of Van Gerwen.

A year later, the nightly win went to Dimitri Van den Bergh. The Belgian first defeated Smith and then benefited from a withdrawal by Van Gerwen, sending him straight to the final without a semifinal. There he beat Gerwyn Price.

In 2024, it was Luke Littler who struck immediately on his Aberdeen debut. The young Englishman defeated Nathan Aspinall, Smith, and Rob Cross in succession. Last year it was Aspinall’s turn. He started by beating Van Gerwen and then swept past Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey in convincing fashion.

A tough task for Josh Rock on paper. ‘Rocky’ has faced Luke Littler seven times in official matches, and each time ‘The Nuke’ left the stage as the winner. They have met only once in the Premier League. On the night in Cardiff on March 5, Littler beat Rock 6-4.

This will likely be Rock’s last chance to keep his play-off hopes alive. On eight points, the Northern Irishman trails fourth place by ten. Rock will therefore need to win multiple nights to make the final four.

Littler has no such concerns, as the 19-year-old Englishman is already assured of a spot on Finals Night. However, the two-time world champion is locked in a battle with Jonny Clayton for top spot in the standings. In that fight, Littler cannot afford to drop points against Rock.

With eleven points from twelve match nights, Stephen Bunting is not out of the play-off race yet, but time is running out for “The Bullet.” The Englishman must make up seven points on fourth-placed Michael van Gerwen, while Gerwyn Price sits third on nineteen points.

Price is well placed, with a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Gian van Veen. However, only two play-off tickets remain, and “The Iceman” needs to keep collecting points to stay in the top four. If Price beats Bunting, the gap between them becomes ten points, and with just three nights left after this one, the Welshman would likely no longer have to worry about Bunting.

In the head-to-head, Price has a clear advantage over Bunting. Of their previous 25 meetings, the former rugby player won sixteen. In this Premier League, Price also took both encounters against Bunting.

This will already be the fifth meeting between Jonny Clayton and Gian van Veen in this Premier League Darts. The Dutchman won the first showdown, then Clayton took the next three. In the overall head-to-head, Clayton also leads 5-3.

The Welshman is having a very strong Premier League. Thanks to four nightly titles, he tops the table after twelve rounds with 32 points and is already assured of a play-off spot. However, Clayton will need to press hard over the final four nights to keep Luke Littler definitively behind him.

Van Veen started his debut Premier League Darts campaign excellently, reaching three finals in the first four weeks. It then stalled, partly due to physical issues. Van Veen still sits a tidy fifth, but trails fourth-placed Michael van Gerwen by four points. Over the coming weeks, Van Veen cannot afford early exits in the fight for a top-four place.

The stakes are high on Thursday night in Aberdeen for these two players, and it is a crucial night especially for Luke Humphries. The world number two sits a disappointing sixth, five points adrift of Michael van Gerwen. If Humphries loses to the Dutchman, his deficit grows to seven points.

On the other hand, a win over Humphries allows Van Gerwen to push a direct rival closer to the brink. Especially with Gian van Veen and Stephen Bunting facing the respective number one and three in the table, Van Gerwen can strengthen his top-four position on Thursday night.

The head-to-head between these two is currently perfectly level. Both have beaten the other 18 times. Their last meeting was at the end of March, when Van Gerwen beat the Englishman 6-3.