Luke Littler threw away the chance to silence the baying Liverpool crowd by collapsing against Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals of the latest round 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 side earn a point against Tottenham at Anfield, Littler missed the chance to tighten his grip at the top of the Premier League table.
His wait for a record-breaking fifth nightly win goes on and Luke Humphries, the world No 1, is on the hunt to overtake him in the weekly standings.
It was a win that never looked possible for Van Gerwen until Littler went off the boil, but it improved the Dutchman’s chance of making the playoffs, with a semi-final against Humphries to come.
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