Luke Humphries returns to his home venue of Leeds to continue his pursuit of a Premier League Play-Off spot on Night Fourteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leeds plays host to a crucial night of league action, as Humphries takes on Josh Rock in a pivotal match in the race for The O2.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defending champion is hunting his third consecutive nightly win at the arena, claiming glory in both his previous appearances in Leeds in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the world number two is just one of just three players yet to claim nightly glory, occupying sixth in the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A significant quarter-final win against Michael van Gerwen and run to the final in Aberdeen last week kept Humphries in contention for the Play-Offs, but there is work still to do if he is to defend his title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s always something that I look forward to at the start of the season,<\/em>” proclaimed Humphries, who currently sits two points adrift of fourth-placed Van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s my favourite night of the year in the Premier League and where I get the best support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The good thing for me is I need these points more than ever. The last two years I didn’t really need them. It might make me up for it even more than I usually am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It was a massive game against Michael last week. I’ve put myself right back in the game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n League leader Littler, meanwhile, has already sealed his spot at The O2, sitting on 34 points after claiming five nightly victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Champion takes on Van Gerwen in a crucial match for the Dutchman, while Littler still hopes to top the table for a third consecutive year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With three weeks to go, the 19-year-old is also eyeing the opportunity to match or break his own record of six nightly wins from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Obviously I always want to be top of the table,” announced Littler, who won in Aberdeen last week to leapfrog Jonny Clayton into top spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I know Jonny [Clayton] says he wants to get to The O2 and we’ve both qualified, so now I want to chase and hopefully break my own records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I can definitely say I’m relaxed now. I saw before play that me and Jonny had the Q [on the table] so I knew I was going back to The O2 for the third consecutive year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Now I can go chasing my records. Three nights left, I’ll try and grab as many nightly wins as I can.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsewhere, Clayton – who has too confirmed his qualification for a fourth-consecutive Finals Night – takes on compatriot Gerwyn Price, as the former World Champion hopes to consolidate his position in third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Price has reached The O2 in two of his last three campaigns, and has a five-point buffer over Gian van Veen in fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the other quarter-final, Dutch number one Van Veen hopes to bolster his chances of making Finals Night on debut as he faces Stephen Bunting in the fourth quarter-final of the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Championship runner-up is level on points with Humphries and two behind a Play-Off spot, also looking for his first nightly win of the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bunting’s situation is more precarious, sitting in seventh and seven points adrift of a Play-Off spot, but he will take encouragement from the fact his sole nightly win in Belfast included a 6-2 triumph over Van Veen in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ranking points will be awarded per night – with five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the semi-finalists – to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SCHEDULE Luke Humphries returns to his home venue of Leeds to continue his pursuit of a Premier League Play-Off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-12613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen
Josh Rock v Luke Humphries
Gian van Veen v Stephen Bunting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"