Premier League Darts news: Night 3 preview and predictions
Premier League Darts action shifts to Dublin this week as Luke Littler aims to make it back-to-back wins in the competition.
Night 2 in Glasgow was overshadowed by poor crowd behavior, with whistling throughout, and many will be hoping for better behaviour on Night 3.
Reigning world champion Littler triumphed in Scotland to move up to second in the league table, while Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall are yet to record a win in the tournament.
Sports News Blitz writer Joseph Hannen previews Night 3 and predicts the winner.
Humphries maintains the lead
World No.1 Luke Humphries enjoyed another fruitful evening in Glasgow, reaching his second final in as many weeks.
Cool Hand Luke came from 4-2 down against both Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price before falling to a last-leg decider against Littler.
Humphries registered a 106.07 against Dobey and 101.98 against Price alongside hitting 11 180s on the night.
The league leader kicks off the night in Dublin against his practice partner Bunting, who has yet to rise to the occasion of the Premier League this term.
Indeed, the Bullet was demolished 6-1 by Michael van Gerwen last time out, although the latter did put up some impressive numbers.
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Littler up and running
Littler can count himself very lucky to have won in Glasgow as the teenager was 5-1 down in the quarter-final with Rob Cross.
Voltage stormed into a 5-1 lead, missed a match dart at 5-2, two more at 5-4, and then lost the last-leg decider.
In the end, Littler recorded a 104.59 average and checked out 88 to seal the win.
The Nuke went on to sweep aside Van Gerwen 6-2, with three 180s and a 115 checkout.
A topsy-turvy final between the two best players on the planet saw Littler reel in the big fish before pinning double 10 to take maximum points from Night 2.
He now faces off against Welshman Price in Thursday’s second quarter-final.
Price got his first win last week against Aspinall and has averaged 96.10 across the two nights.
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Chasing pack
The third quarter-final in Dublin sees Cross and Aspinall go head-to-head in a real chance for The Asp to gain his first points of the campaign.
Stockport star Aspinall showed signs of fight and quality against Price in Glasgow, pinning two 100+ checkouts in a 6-4 defeat.
His 96.25 average was superior to The Iceman’s 94.46, but he ultimately fell short again.
There is no easy game in the Premier League and each player must take every opportunity awarded to them or risk being left behind in the race for the top four.
Bunting sits bottom for league average with 93.97 and needs to rediscover the form he showed to win the Bahrain Masters in January.
Thursday’s last quarter-final sees Van Gerwen face-off against Dobey.
Dobey will be riding high after winning the Players Championship 3 title, defeating Dutchman Jelle Klaasen 8-4 in the final.
The Geordie player has started 2025 on fire and will be looking to build on his three Premier League points so far.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, has two wins and two losses to his name, a record that will certainly place him in the top four if continued.
Up to now, the seven-time Premier League champion has been happy to chip away and collect points on a consistent basis, but he is sure to be in for a tough test on Night 3.
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Dublin order of play and predictions
The order of play for Night 3 is as follows: Luke Humphries vs Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price vs Luke Littler, Rob Cross vs Nathan Aspinall, and Michael van Gerwen vs Chris Dobey.
Similar to last week, Van Gerwen has landed on the easier side of the draw and I fully expect to see him reach his first final of the campaign.
The Green Machine would, however, need to dispatch one of Cross or Aspinall after getting past Dobey.
It would be no surprise to see Humphries and Littler contest the first semi-final as both players look a class above the rest at the moment.
Ultimately, I think Dublin’s final will be a repeat of the 2025 Darts World Championship final, with Littler taking on Van Gerwen and claiming victory.
Night 3 prediction: Littler to beat Van Gerwen 6-4 in the final
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