Littler beats Clayton in Liverpool to move closer to play-offs

Luke Littler overcame a chorus of boos in Liverpool to strengthen his grip on a Premier League play-off place with an impressive 6-0 win over Jonny Clayton.

Manchester United fan Littler, 19, was booed throughout the night on Merseyside, but he kept his cool to claim his fourth nightly win in week 12.

The world champion saw off Luke Humphries 6-2 in the quarter-finals, but was pushed to the limit by Michael van Gerwen in the last four.

With the top four in the Premier League table going through to the finals night, Clayton leads the way overall, three points clear of second-placed Littler, who is 15 ahead of Gian van Veen in fifth.

With four nights to go, Clayton and Littler are all but assured of a place at London's O2 Arena for finals night on 28 May.

When comparing his reception in Rotterdam last Thursday to the one he got in Liverpool, Littler said: "Rotterdam was way louder than this tonight.

"There was a little bit [of booing] but this week was nothing compared to last week.

"I've just got to forget about it. I was definitely focused and wanted to win tonight, and that's what I've done."

Littler has finished top of the table in the previous two years and is determined to do so again, saying: "I'm very close to Jonny now and I'm going to go chasing.

"I want to finish top once again and if it's not to be then it's not to be, but there are still four weeks left to play for."

Littler, who was booed in Rotterdam last week after following his exchange with Dutch number one Gian van Veen in Manchester three weeks ago, showed his resilience to secure another five points.

He quickly raced into a 4-0 lead over Clayton in the final after capitalising on missed doubles from the 2021 Premier League champion.

With Clayton only able to land one out of his six double attempts, Littler didn't need to produce anything spectacular to claim the nightly win.

An average just shy of 100 and a brilliant 67% finish rate were enough for the world champion to claim victory in Liverpool.

Humphries in danger of missing play-offs

Perhaps one of the shocks of this year's Premier League is seeing defending champion Humphries down in seventh and at risk of failing to qualify for the play-offs altogether.

The world number two has been far from his best in the competition he won last May, with just seven match wins after the 12th week.

After 16 weeks last year, Humphries had won 21 matches and three nights. He is yet to win a night this time around.

With Michael van Gerwen - currently in the fourth and final play-off spot - picking up points, it was crucial for Humphries to do so too.