Preview Premier League Darts Night Eight Berlin: Humphries-Van Gerwen, Price-Van Veen and Littler-Bunting headline

The 2026 Premier League Darts continues on Thursday evening in Berlin, where Night 8 is on the schedule. That marks the end of the first half of the campaign, with the race for the playoff spots taking sharper shape. With only a few league nights left, every match grows in importance in the chase for a top-four finish.

The action takes place at the Uber Arena, the venue long known as the Mercedes-Benz Arena for Premier League action. Berlin was a relatively late addition to the Premier League itinerary. Only in 2018 did the German capital first join the calendar. That season the field still featured names such as Michael Smith, Simon Whitlock, Gerwyn Price, Mensur Suljovic, Michael van Gerwen, Daryl Gurney, Rob Cross, Raymond van Barneveld, Peter Wright, and Gary Anderson. Of that group, only two players remain in the current line-up.
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The Berlin arena also played a key role in 2022, when the Premier League final was staged there. Michael van Gerwen claimed his sixth title in the tournament that evening. In the decider against Joe Cullen, the Englishman had a match dart but missed, after which Van Gerwen struck instantly to snatch the title.

In the years since, Berlin has featured as a regular league night. In 2023, the nightly win went to Jonny Clayton, who beat Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, and Michael Smith in succession. A year later, Van Gerwen again proved strongest in the German capital after victories over Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith, and Luke Littler. Last season’s edition produced a notable winner. Stephen Bunting, who was still on zero points after eight nights, stunned the field by taking the nightly title with wins over Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.

We are only seven nights into the Premier League Darts, and only last week did Jonny Clayton suffer his first quarterfinal exit of a night. With the final round of the first half approaching, “The Ferret” surprisingly tops the table after, among other results, two nightly titles, and Clayton is well on his way to being one of the first to secure a playoff berth.

Reaching Finals Night is something Josh Rock can only dream of for now. While Clayton has lost just one quarterfinal, Rock has yet to win a match in his debut Premier League Darts campaign. For the Northern Irishman, the priority is to get his first points on the board quickly, and perhaps climb a few spots in the standings to bank some extra prize money.

The former World Youth Champion does not even have that bad a record against Clayton, as six of their twelve prior meetings have gone to the 24-year-old from Antrim. In this Premier League they have only met on the opening night in Newcastle. Clayton won 6-2 then with a 109.81 average.

It still has not truly been Luke Humphries’ Premier League, but the titleholder appears to be finding his stride. Last weekend “Cool Hand Luke” banked confidence by lifting the Belgian Darts Open title, while in each of the last three league nights Humphries has cleared his opening match in the Premier League Darts. As a result, the Englishman has edged back into the top four of the table, and this tie offers the former world champion a prime chance to put daylight between himself and a direct rival.

Michael van Gerwen, by contrast, started the Premier League Darts in style with a nightly win in Newcastle and a runner-up finish in Antwerp. Health issues, however, forced “Mighty Mike” to skip Night 3, and he has not won a match since. Because Gian van Veen had to withdraw last week, the Vlijmen native still managed to scrape two much-needed points to keep in touch with the top four. After seven nights Van Gerwen sits fifth, knowing that a win over Humphries would at least move him above his upcoming opponent in the standings.

Last weekend these two players faced each other at the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze. On that occasion it was Humphries who prevailed 7-2, while also posting an excellent 105.96 average. It immediately gave him the lead in their head-to-head, as the current record now stands at 18-17 in Humphries’ favor. In this Premier League, the Dutchman and the Englishman have already met twice. Van Gerwen won 6-2 during the opening night in Newcastle, and a month later on Night Five in Cardiff, Humphries triumphed 6-1.

How will the crowd react to Luke Littler? That is one of the pressing questions ahead of this round. “The Nuke” was consistently booed during his previous visits to German darts venues, which is also why the English teenage sensation skips tournaments in Germany whenever possible. In this Premier League, Littler is on a strong surge. After four nights, the world number one was a disappointing fourth, but thanks to two nightly titles in the past three weeks, Littler has climbed back to second and can attack Jonny Clayton’s top spot in Berlin.

Last year, Bunting traveled to Berlin without a point and won the nightly title there to claim his first five points of the season. This season, “The Bullet” has not started nearly as poorly, as the St Helens thrower already sits on seven points. However, that is only good enough for seventh place. Another triumph in the German capital would firmly thrust Bunting back into the race for the play-offs.

And Bunting has often shown in the past that he can beat Littler. The former Masters champion has done so four times in their thirteen meetings, although the last three clashes went to his young compatriot. The two Englishmen met for the first time in this Premier League only last week. After a high-quality match, Littler won 6-3.

After a week out, Gian van Veen returns to the stage. Van Veen had to skip last week’s round in Dublin due to kidney stones. And he was also absent last weekend in Wieze because of health issues for “GVV The Giant.” It was still a question whether he would make Berlin, but on Wednesday Van Veen said he expected to be fit enough. Realistically, the Poederoijen thrower cannot afford to miss another round either. After reaching three finals in the first four weeks and sitting second after week four, he has since slipped to sixth place. Van Veen also needs to keep collecting points to book his ticket to the O2 in London in May.

The gap to third-placed Gerwyn Price is only three points, underlining how tight this part of the table is. Price should have won his second nightly title of the season last week, but “The Iceman” let a 5-0 lead slip in his final against Littler. With twelve points, however, the Welshman remains well placed in the upper half of the standings.

Price can also lean on an excellent record against Van Veen. They have played eleven times, with Price winning no fewer than nine. Their most recent meeting, however, went 6-5 to Van Veen.