After plenty of drama and debate, serial winners, nearly men, established stars and fresh faces are all bracing themselves for the weekly tests of nerve and talent imposed by the Premier League’s travelling circus.
The Premier League holds a curious place in the sport — it’s not a ranking event but does pull in more viewers and bigger crowds than any other tournament on the circuit, bar the World Championship. With 17 weeks of action that require both quality and consistency, there is arguably no bigger examination of a marksman’s darting pedigree.
The PDC selected a mixture of old and new to complete this year’s line-up and a case can be made for each of them to be the one lifting the title at the O2 Arena in May.
But why will, and why won’t each of them be crowned the 2026 Premier League champion?
Luke Littler
The world No. 1 comes into the tournament as a seemingly unbeatable force of nature, recently described by his closest rival as “the greatest player that’s ever lived.” It’s a daunting prospect for his fellow competitors, and for the sport as a whole, but is Littler poised to unfurl more greatness or primed for a fall?
Why Littler will win the Premier League: Pure talent. Simply put, the 19-year-old is able to play better darts, more of the time than any other player in the world. Littler has not lost in a major televised event since he was beaten by James Wade in the second round of the European Championship back in October. Since then, The Nuke has swept the Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals, World Championship and World Masters.
If he is to be beaten, it’s going to need multiple factors to work against him, all at the same time.
Why Littler won’t win the Premier League: The crowds turn against him. They say familiarity breeds contempt and it’s a well established truth that sports stars who win too regularly are eventually knocked from the pedestal on which they’d been placed.
While Littler has often been subjected to boos from fans on the continent, he first drew the ire of a home crowd during his World Championship clash with Rob Cross. Littler’s heat-of-the-moment decision to thank the crowd for buying the tickets that “pay for my prize money” has created an uneasy tension between the champion and his public which threatens to boil over. If it does at some point over the next four months, he will find it hard to block out the noise.
– Luke Littler darts titles, prize money, career history, more
Luke Humphries
As Littler’s closest rival, Humphries is seen by many as the man most capable of defusing The Nuke. But the loss of his world No. 1 spot, a miserable run of defeats in major finals and a quarterfinal exit at the World Championship means Cool Hand Luke is looking to add some shine back to his tarnished recent record.
Why Humphries will win the Premier League: The defending champion is surely due one. Since getting the better of Littler in last year’s Premier League showdown, Humphries has come up short in his next four finals (lost three to Littler, one to Gian Van Veen). Humphries is too good of a player to let that run go on too long and the Premier League is arguably his best event — the last time he failed to make the final was in 2023.
Why Humphries won’t win the Premier League: Maybe losing belief that he can overhaul Littler. Dart tournament previews have been a case of Luke vs. Luke for more than two years now, but there’s a chance that the regularity of his defeats to Littler means even Humphries is being made to bend the knee to the boy king.
In the run up to the World Championship, the 2024 winner seemed to be revelling in his and Littler’s joint-dominance of the sport, saying “it’s up to others” to reach their level. But reflecting on his World Masters loss to Littler in January, Humphries told a news conference that while he remains his closest rival, he thinks Littler’s “definitely a league above everyone.”
– Luke Humphries darts titles, prize money, career history, more
Gian van Veen
Fresh from reaching the World Championship final and realising some of the potential that darts aficionados have long known him to possess, Van Veen heads into his debut Premier League campaign seeking to prove he can mix it with the elite week in, week out.
Why Van Veen will win the Premier League: Proven tournament winning ability. The 23-year-old Dutchman earned his first major title in October as he triumphed in the European Championship and that first real taste of success raised his game to the next level.
At Alexandra Palace, he showed extraordinary levels of ability in knocking out Humphries and vanquishing Gary Anderson in a semifinal epic to progress to the World Championship final where he was ultimately crushed 7-1 by Littler.
Why Van Veen won’t win the Premier League: Appears to be lacking in self-confidence. Speaking in the run up to the start of the first night of the Premier League in Newcastle, Van Veen turned heads by saying he thinks Littler “is still going to be top of the world in five or 10 years” and he will be happy as long as he is battling him for titles.
It was a remarkable moment of honesty from the world No. 3 who also conceded that he doesn’t see himself finishing top of the Premier League table come the end of Night 16 because of the quality of some of his rivals. However, it’s important to note he did say that he thinks he’d have a “good shot” if he can make it to the Playoffs in May.
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Michael van Gerwen
The legendary Michael van Gerwen has found it tough to get back to the sort of form that saw him win seven Premier League titles between 2013 and 2023.
Why Van Gerwen will win the Premier League: He’s back to winning ways in 2026. It certainly was a case of new year, new me for MVG as he surprised many by emerging as the winner of the PDC’s first post-World Championship get-together in Bahrain. He followed it up with a run to the final in the inaugural Saudi Darts Masters four days later where he was beaten by, you guessed it, Luke Littler. His once unthinkable fallibility was on show once again at the Masters, though, as he suffered a first-round exit.
Despite his issues with consistency, Van Gerwen remains one of the most capable players on the circuit and he knows a thing or two (or seven) about winning Premier League titles…
Why Van Gerwen won’t win the Premier League: Downward career trend. Van Gerwen’s occasional ability to move through the gears means he remains a player to be wary of — the fact remains that he has not won a major ranked event since 2022.
While he did win his most recent Premier League title a year later in 2023, and his returns must be considered alongside the significant personal upheaval he has experienced in recent years, that sustained barren run has many saying Van Gerwen is at the beginning of the end of his great career.
– Michael van Gerwen darts titles, prize money, career history, more
Jonny Clayton
Nobody loves the Premier League more than Jonny Clayton. The 2021 Premier League champion’s two-year absence from the event has only served to grow his hunger to return to the fold, but are the Welshman’s best days behind him?
Why Clayton will win the Premier League: The former champion is back to prove a point. The 51-year-old has openly admitted that his omission from the last two tournaments in 2024 and 2025 “hurt” and he has often been happy to fight his own corner in saying he should have been included.
Speaking ahead of the opening night of the 2026 Premier League in Newcastle, he admitted it’s time to put his words into action. “If you talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk, haven’t you? I’ve said that I should have been in it, now I need to prove why I should be in it. So I’m looking forward to this. I’m really ready for this,” he said.
Why Clayton won’t win the Premier League: Lack of recent tournament pedigree. The Ferret made the cut for this year’s Premier League after a fine midseason run in 2025 that brought three major semifinals and two finals. It was a year to be proud of, but one that also underlined his reputation as a solid but relatively unspectacular player who consistently makes the latter rounds but finds securing silverware difficult.
Stephen Bunting
It’s been a difficult few months for the man with the most popular walk-on in the sport. He was one of the most consistent players around in 2025 — he had the highest yearly average of any player on the ProTour (99.02) — but his form tailed off towards the end of the year.
Why Bunting will win the Premier League: Hunter rather than the hunted. The ballooning World Championship prize money meant Bunting’s third-round defeat by James Hurrell saw him drop from No. 4 to No. 7 in the Order of Merit. He has said he often felt he was on the defensive, trying to protect his ranking before whereas now he is feeling “really fresh” and has “topped up” on his hypnotherapy to get himself in a better mental space for success.
Why Bunting won’t win the Premier League: Relatively poor showing last year. The Bullet endured a torrid start to his 2025 Premier League campaign, losing his first eight matches. His first victory came in Berlin where he went on to earn his maiden nightly win.
He reached another final on Night 11 but it wasn’t enough to prevent him from finishing bottom of the table with 12 points. His inclusion in this year’s line-up was somewhat controversial among the darts cognoscente.
– Stephen Bunting darts titles, prize money, career history, more
Josh Rock
The highly rated Northern Irishman is making his first appearance in the Premier League this year and is expected to perform well across the 16 weeks of nightly action. But will his lack of experience work against him?
Why Rock will win the Premier League: Could be his breakout moment. Rock’s stunning defeat to the popular Justin Hood in the World Championship threatened to overshadow a positive year for the 24-year-old in which he reached the latter stages of several tournaments and went toe-to-toe with Littler in the most perfect leg of darts you could possible see during the World Matchplay.
Rock has proved he can mix it at the top level on a consistent basis and seems primed to thrive in the Premier League — Wayne Mardle thinks the format “could be made for him.”
Why Rock won’t win the Premier League: A tough tournament for debutants. The relentless nature of the Premier League can make it hard going for those not used to having to perform at their best week after week. Bunting, while not a debutant last year, experienced that last year, losing all of his first eight matches and effectively travelling around the UK and Europe, playing only for pride during the last two months of the competition.
Gerwyn Price
One of the most recognisable faces in the sport, The Iceman is making his eighth Premier League appearance this year. A difficult 2024 saw his ranking slide but he was back to something approaching his best during the second half of 2025 and will be hoping to win the first Premier League title of his career after reaching the final in 2023 and the semifinals last time out.
Why Price will win the Premier League: Threatening a return to major-winning form. A Premier League veteran and former world champion, Price has been been tipped by many to produce his best and get over the line at a major for some time now. He’s reached the semifinals in three of the last four majors and did so again in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in January.
Price is also one of the few who possesses the ability to beat Littler — Price missed a match dart at his favoured double 20 against The Nuke in the World Masters.
Why Price won’t win the Premier League: Can’t get over the line. Another way of assessing his many near misses is that Price seems to stumble when the lights get really bright of late.
The Welshman maintains that he doesn’t “dwell” on his struggles with converting his good form into tournament wins and is hopeful that a “more positive” outlook will translate into some trophy lifts in the near future.
One thing that has changed is his relationship with the darts crowd — where once he was the pantomime villain, now he is one of the most popular players on the circuit.
