- Van Gerwen faces Littler in the World Darts Championship final on Friday night
- Littler has overcome Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting en route to the final
- The Dutchman is aiming to claim his fourth world title and his first since 2019
Michael van Gerwen has taken aim at Luke Littler‘s route to the World Darts Championship final ahead of their monumental clash at Alexandra Palace on Friday night.
The three-time world champion dispatched Chris Dobey with ease, outclassing the Geordie 6-1 victory in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, teenage sensation Littler, who was defeated by Luke Humphries in last year’s final, cruised through his last four challenge against crowd-favourite Stephen ‘The Bullet’ Bunting.
Prior to that, the 17-year-old breezed past world No. 12 Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals. The tournament favourite triumphed 5-2, managing 15 maximums with an average of 101.54.
However, Van Gerwen has downplayed the difficulty of Littler’s road to his second consecutive world final with an X-rated rant against the level of his opponents.
‘The last matches he played okay, but that’s also easy talking,’ Van Gerwen began. Of course, that [quarter-final against Nathan Aspinall] was his best match because he had absolutely no opposition.
Michael van Gerwen has downplayed the difficulty of Luke Littler’s route to world darts final
Van Gerwen takes on teenage sensation Littler (right) for the title at Ally Pally on Friday night
The Dutchman claimed his son ‘would have beat’ Littler’s quarter-final opponent Nathan Aspinall (pictured)
‘Aspinall… I think my little son would have beat him, he didn’t throw s***.’
The Van Gerwen and Littler rivalry may have only begun in early 2024, but watching the pair collide in top competition has become box office stuff over the course of the last 12 months.
The pair have met on 12 occasions since their first match at the Bahrain Masters in January, with both coming out on top six times each.
Littler has had the better of their recent clashes, beating the Dutchman in the World Series of Darts semi-finals and at the European Tour.
However, when asked about who is the favourite heading into their biggest battle yet, Van Gerwen confidently dismissed Littler’s chances of being crowned champion.
‘Who do you think yourself? Don’t ask those silly questions, right? Of course, I’m the favourite,’ said Van Gerwen
‘Purely in terms of quality, what I’ve shown in recent years. And not only that, also the past matches.’
It’s not the first time Van Gerwen has outwardly slammed Littler at this year’s championships.
Littler and Van Gerwen have met on 12 occasions with both coming out on top six times each
The Dutch darts star is aiming to win his fourth world title and his first since back in 2019 (above)
Littler is confident that he can go one better than last year, after losing to Luke Humphries in the 2024 final
Before the youngster narrowly got past Ryan Joyce in the last 16, the 35-year-old Dutch star has some choice words about his rivals form.
‘I think the biggest disappointment so far is Luke Littler. A lot of people are expecting a lot of him, that’s the reason why he is not 100 per cent.’
Meanwhile, Littler seemingly has bags of belief that he will avenge his loss to Humphries last year by taking down Van Gerwen.
‘I’ve gained loads of experience. Obviously, Michael has been in numerous finals and this is my second,’ Littler began. I know where I went wrong last year and I’m sure I’ll fix it.
‘I felt very confident [last night]. The best I felt was against Nathan in the quarter-finals but I’m just glad I’m playing with confidence.
‘I’m hitting the shots when I needed to. Stephen was right behind me throughout the game and I just couldn’t step off the gas.
‘Everyone else is looking forward to it more than I am. But win seven sets and I’ll be happy. It’d mean everything (to win). Win seven sets and I’ll be over the moon.’