‘It will annoy him’ – Premier League Darts stars warned a ‘Luke Littler storm is coming’ after frustrating start

Beware the wounded champion. That is the message reverberating around the Premier League Darts world this week, as former world champion Rob Cross has issued a stark warning to every player on the circuit: the slow start is temporary, the frustration is building, and the storm is coming.

Four nights into the 2026 Premier League season, Luke Littler sits seventh in the standings with just one match win to his name — an almost unfathomable statistic for the back-to-back world champion and undisputed number one player in the sport. But those who know Littler best are not panicking. They’re watching the pressure cooker build, and they know what happens when it finally blows.

‘Nobody Had It on Their Bingo Card’

Rob Cross, himself a former world champion and one of the most respected voices in darts, has been watching Littler’s struggles with a mixture of surprise and quiet confidence. Speaking to Oche180, Cross articulated what many in the sport are thinking but few have said so plainly.

“I don’t think anyone had it on their bingo card that Luke Littler and Luke Humphries would be in the bottom three after a month of the Premier League,” he said. “They’ve not even had a final each and that is almost unthinkable considering they’ve dominated the sport for three years.”

It is a remarkable state of affairs. The two players who have towered over darts for the best part of three years — combining for every major TV title worth winning — are currently both misfiring at the same time, in the same competition, leaving the door open for the likes of Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen to take full advantage.

Littler’s rivals have indeed upped their game, with Clayton, Price and Michael van Gerwen all securing nightly victories in the opening weeks, making Littler’s absence from the winners’ podium all the more conspicuous.

‘The Storm Is Coming’

But Cross’s message to the rest of the field is clear: do not mistake a slow start for a lasting decline.

“It won’t last, that’s for sure. The Littler storm is coming. You could see the frustration in his face after losing to Jonny Clayton in Belfast. He got some stick from the crowd which is a shame but that won’t bother him. That boy is made of stern stuff.”

The frustration Cross references is telling. Littler is not a player who hides his emotions on stage — and the sight of a visibly annoyed world champion, gesturing at hostile crowds and staring down missed doubles, is the hallmark of someone who cares deeply and is itching to put things right.

“It will annoy him that it’s not clicked yet in the Premier League,” Cross added. “There’s definitely nothing wrong with his form. He was incredible at the Poland Darts Open a week ago.”

That contrast is worth dwelling on. Just days before Belfast, Littler was a force of nature in Krakow — averaging over 108, breezing through the field and claiming the Poland Darts Open title with the kind of clinical, relentless darts that defined his world championship run. The talent hasn’t evaporated. It simply hasn’t translated to the Premier League stage yet.

The Format Issue — And Why Littler Is a Slow Starter

Cross put his finger on something important when explaining why the Premier League format specifically may be working against Littler right now.

“The short format at the Premier League doesn’t allow him to get into his stride. He can be a slow starter and there’s no room for error against the biggest names in the sport.”

This is the crux of Littler’s dilemma. In a World Championship best-of-sets format, he can absorb a sluggish opening, find his rhythm, and shift through the gears until opponents simply cannot live with him. The Premier League’s race-to-six structure allows no such luxury. A checkout rate in the low 30 per cent range has repeatedly cost him momentum in the race-to-six format, where one missed dart can flip an entire match.

After four nights, Littler has yet to advance beyond the semi-finals, having reached the final on both of his previous appearances in this competition. The drop-off from previous seasons is stark, and the numbers behind it are stark too.

Criticism Will Only Fuel the Fire

Perhaps the most intriguing element of Cross’s assessment is his belief that the growing narrative around Littler’s struggles will serve as rocket fuel rather than dead weight.

“With Luke he’ll likely be enjoying some people writing him off. Then he’ll come roaring back, lift the trophy and tell them all again ‘you’re not doubting me now’ — just like he did two years ago,” Cross said.

It is a well-established pattern. Littler has been doubted before — most memorably when he first burst onto the scene as a teenage outsider — and his response has invariably been to produce something extraordinary. The young man from Warrington has shown, time and again, that external pressure doesn’t break him. It sharpens him.

Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle has also noticed the pressure accumulating. “I didn’t think I’d be saying it so soon, that there’s a tiny bit of pressure on Luke Littler. Not to go and win the night but win and feel better because he’s not playing anywhere near his normal standard. It’s not working for him, it’s not going his way.”

That pressure, Cross would argue, is precisely what will eventually trigger the explosion.

Humphries in the Same Boat

Importantly, Littler is not alone in his struggles. Defending champion Luke Humphries has fared little better, and Cross is equally confident his form will return.

“It’s so hard to explain how Luke isn’t winning nights. He’s playing absolutely incredible,” Cross said of Humphries. “That won’t last for long. With his scoring power, it will come right and he’ll also be hard to stop.”

The simultaneous dip from both Littler and Humphries has made the 2026 Premier League genuinely unpredictable. For the first time in years, the competition doesn’t feel like a foregone conclusion — and that is actually good for the sport, even if it is uncomfortable for its two most dominant figures.

What Happens When the Storm Arrives

Littler himself had set ambitious targets going into the season — not just winning the Premier League but breaking statistical records and hitting multiple nine-darters. Those ambitions haven’t changed. If anything, the frustration of a slow start will have hardened his resolve.

“The Premier League hasn’t been up there with the levels we expect of Luke Littler. We are waiting for him to go boom,” Mardle said. And when the boom comes — when the doubles start landing, when the averaging climbs back to 105 and beyond, when the world champion rediscovers the unstoppable form that has made him the most feared player on the planet — the rest of the field will have been warned.

Rob Cross has given them that warning. The Littler storm is coming.

Whether they’re ready for it is another question entirely.