Luke Littler beaten by Michael van Gerwen after Liverpool quarter-final collapse

Luke Littler threw away the chance to silence the baying Liverpool crowd by collapsing against Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals of the Premier League.

Littler, booed on to stage at the M&S Bank Arena owing to his allegiance to Manchester United, looked like he would let his darts do the talking as he surged into a 4-0 lead in a race to six legs in his opening match on night 12.

He missed bullseye for 5-0, two darts for 5-1 and two match darts at 5-3 and the Dutchman took advantage to come back and win 6-5.

In the city where football’s Premier League title could be wrapped up on Sunday if Arne Slot’s Reds earn a point against Tottenham at Anfield, Littler missed the chance to tighten his grip on the darts Premier League.

His wait for a record-breaking fifth nightly win goes on and world number one Luke Humphries is on the hunt to overtake him in the weekly standings.

It was a win for Van Gerwen that never looked possible until Littler went off the boil, but it improved the Dutchman’s chance of making the play-offs, with a semi-final against Humphries to come.