Luke Littler is in excellent form halfway through his 2025 Premier League campaign. The young Englishman has reached four one-night finals, won two nights, has an impressive tournament average of 104 to his name and has thrown almost twice as many 180s as any other individual player.
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With a total of 16 points, Littler leads the standings in the eight-player Premier League. Unless he experiences a drastic dip in form between now and May, his qualification for the Play-Offs seems all but certain.
Still, a meeting with Gerwyn Price in London would make for an interesting dynamic. The former world champion is in the unusual situation of completely dominating his clashes with Littler, despite lesser overall statistics. No other PDC player can present such a one-sided record against the young Englishman.
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Price has won the last six duels between them, five of which were televised. Moreover, he did so by an overwhelming difference of 39-21 in legs. Looking at their mutual results since the start of the Premier League in 2024, Price has built a moderate television balance with 32 wins and 30 defeats against all other opponents. However, against Littler he has an overwhelming preponderance of 7-2. How can that be explained? Christopher Kempf, statistician for the PDC, tried to find the answer to this.
Even if we include the first two meetings between Price and Littler at the 2024 World Series - both won by Littler - Price still leads 7-4 in their Head to Head. However, a deeper analysis of the statistics from these 11 matches shows that Littler is by no means being outplayed by the Welshman. Littler's average of 99.87 is higher than Price's 98.3, although the latter figure is somewhat skewed by Price's exceptionally high 115 average at the World Series this year.
Littler has thrown more 180s, hit more doubles and scored top scores more often on the trebles and even the bullseye. So why does Littler still have a negative balance against a player he surpasses in pure numbers? The answer is inefficiency: the inability to convert his high averages into won legs.
High scores, 180s and throwing lots of trebles are of little use if you are not on a double in time. Price has emerged in their encounters as a master at winning legs within 15 darts. This means Littler often falls behind on a good finish with no chance to throw a double.
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Littler had 85 chances in their matches to win a leg within 15 darts, but succeeded only 34 times (40%). Price managed to complete 49% of his legs within the same 15 darts. In the ten matches in which such data are available, Littler's double-double percentage with his last dart in hand is less than 30%.
Remarkably, three of Price's victories were only settled in a deciding leg. That means that if Littler had won those legs, their mutual balance would have been exactly reversed: 7-4 in his favor instead of 7-4 in Price's favor.
Gerwyn Price boasts exceptional record against Luke Littler
In each of those three decisive legs, Littler threw extremely well (a combined average of 106), putting himself on 56, 48 and 20. But each time, he gave Price a chance to get back on the board - and the Welshman took full advantage. When Littler was waiting for a double, Price threw out 44% of his chances on doubles. When Price was on a double, Littler managed to take a leg only 33% of the time.
Their most recent meeting in Nottingham last week was a textbook example of Littler's inefficiency. Despite a nine-point higher average than Price, he lost 6-3. Only two of his six legs won within his fifth turn. In every leg lost, he was stuck on a score above 100, and he hit only 20 percent of his doubles with his last dart in hand.
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Even if Price had averaged under 92 - compared with Littler's 103 - and taken all his four checkouts with three arrows instead of two, the result would have been identical. The dart world agrees that Littler is one of the most talented players to ever pick up a set of arrows. But even with his steady stream of 180s, he has yet to gain ground against a player 22 years older - a player who ironically surpassed Littler in the number of ranking TV titles won at age 18.
Does Price's stage presence leave him reeling? Does the Welshman's pace have a disruptive effect on the wonderkid from Warrington? For now, the statistics offer no answer to this. And it may not matter either if Littler eventually wins the Premier League title again. But if he ever wants to achieve total dominance in darts, he will have to find a solution to the challenge Price poses to him time and again.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026
- I agree,I can't believe the lack of coverage of this sad loss. Always enjoyed watching him,but I guess now it's all about littler,well it seems that way. Darts has sadly lost a good manrick6717-10-2026
- In the absence of a report regarding the death of Stefan Lord, I'll assist. An excellent player in the late 70s and early 80s, he actually won the now defunct 3rd place match at two World Championships and a couple of the News of the World Championships. A fabulous player and easily the best Swedish player ever. Rest peacefully Stefan.richieburnettrocks16-10-2026