STAR DARTS PREVIEW: Premier League Darts – Week Eleven

We are already on week 11 of the Premier League of Darts and time really is running out for the players, they’ll certainly feel that heading into Thursday where it heads to Rotterdam.  

Last week had a big impact on the leaderboard, particularly with the first quarter-final. There was a tight game between Jonny Clayton and Luke Humphries with Clayton coming out on top in a last leg decider.  

This stopped a rot of quarter-final defeats for Clayton after an absolutely flying start to his campaign and for Luke Humphries, not picking up any points means that he is now second from bottom in the leaderboard and the defending champion looks in trouble of not qualifying for the playoffs. 

A few weeks ago, Luke Littler had really kicked into gear to overtake Clayton at the top of the leaderboard and it looked as if he was going to run with it. However, two weeks ago he lost in a last leg decider to Gian van Veen in the quarter-final and things got very frosty at the end of the match between the two, in which Littler has received plenty of backlash for. 

He was definitely trying to silence the crowd when taking on Stephen Bunting last week but perhaps tried a bit too hard and this was another defeat for him as he had his lowest ever TV average!  

Clayton really managed to kick on after his quarter-final win, he got his revenge on Josh Rock in the semi-final with Rock beating him two weeks in a row before that and then faced Michael van Gerwen in the final, in which he won 6-5 to land the whole night and put himself firmly back on top of the leaderboard.  

It feels as if the table has really spread out now with four points separating van Gerwen in fourth position and van Veen in fifth, so the bottom four players really do have work to do!  

This week in Rotterdam, we should have some brilliant and fiery quarter-finals. They include Littler v Price who always put on a show when playing against each other and a rematch of last week’s final between Clayton and van Gerwen.  

---

Quarter-final matches

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price 

Gian van Veen v Luke Humphries 

Michael van Gerwen v Jonny Clayton 

Stephen Bunting v Josh Rock 

---

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price 

As said, these two usually do produce some fireworks when playing against each other and the game is always played at such a great pace.  

It usually does go close but I feel Price really does struggle to get over the line against Littler. 

Price is certainly ticking along nicely in the Premier League, he won the night two weeks ago which was his second of the season and, on 19 points, looks in a solid position.  

He is so capable of beating Littler but I feel he just thinks about it slightly too much now, therefore I think Littler will win, he’ll definitely have to be better than last week though!  

Gian van Veen v Luke Humphries 

I’m sure if Littler wins the first match, everyone who follows the Premier League will be cheering on van Veen in this game so we get a rematch of their fiery meeting a couple of weeks ago.  

I think this game will go very close, with them both being outside the top four, there’s a fair amount of pressure on it. 

Humphries cannot afford many more quarter-final losses but, with it being van Veen’s debut Premier League campaign, I feel that Humphries may deal with the pressure slightly better and therefore I am just going to side with him in what will be a close game. 

 

Michael van Gerwen v Jonny Clayton 

Like last week’s final, I think this will go close too. Van Gerwen has come back to some form after a flying start to the Premier League but then having a few weeks where he really struggled. 

Clayton did have a few weeks where he couldn’t quite get over the line in the quarter-finals but has always been in a strong position due to his consistency throughout.  

Now Clayton is back in the groove, I am going to stick with him. He has played van Gerwen three times this year and won all three, he can make that four this week.  

Stephen Bunting v Josh Rock 

This game could also prove crucial for the standings at the end of the night.  

Of course, Josh Rock took many weeks to put his first win on the board but he has now won his first match three weeks in a row to perhaps give himself some hope. He’ll most likely need to win a couple of nights at least to put himself in contention of making the playoffs and time is running out to do that, but he’ll certainly have more hope and confidence than a few weeks ago.  

Bunting has also been a bit more consistent in the last few weeks and finds himself in sixth position, five points off the playoff spots. If he could grab a couple of wins this week, he’ll be in a decent position.  

There is still less pressure though on Rock which is why I’m just siding with him, he has beaten Bunting in the UK Open this year and, now he has some confidence on the Premier League stage, unlike the last time they played, and I think he can come forward to beat him and put another couple of points on the board.  

In terms of my outright selection, I’m already buzzing with Clayton being in such a good position. However, I think he could add even further to it this week. 

With Littler, Humphries, Price and van Veen all in the same half of the draw, you’d have to fancy Clayton to make the final. He’s proved three times already that he can win the night in the Premier League this year, priced at 17/2 to do it for a fourth time, I think that’s more than fair.  

As always, there are plenty of specials up on Star Sports for week 11, I like the look of the First Off Double, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries both to win, this has been boosted into 17/10, a price you probably wouldn’t see too many times for a double including these two players. 

It should be an exciting night of action in Rotterdam where I’m hoping Jonny Clayton can extend his lead further at the top of the table! 

---

RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Week 11 Winner: Jonny Clayton 1pt at 17/2 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK First Off Double – Luke Littler & Luke Humphries both to win 3pts at 17/10 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

---

(APR 2026): PROFIT/LOSS: -9.75 points

---

STAR PROMOTIONS