Luke Littler gives advice to Stephen Bunting with Bullet staring unwanted darts history in the face
LUKE LITTLER has backed Stephen Bunting to reverse his awful Premier League form – as the Bullet faces unwanted darting history.
Bunting, 39, has lost EIGHT games in a row in this year’s event and he is rock bottom of the eight-man table with ZERO points.
In total, he is on a 12-game Prem winless streak – he has not won in the competition since beating Gary Anderson 7-1 in Cardiff on April 23, 2015!
In the 2020 Covid-hit tournament, he drew 6-6 with Rob Cross on his home stage of Liverpool in a one-off appearance as a contender.
The worst Prem streak is held by Peter Wright, who went 13 games across the 2019 and 2020 editions without celebrating a win.
Should the St Helens thrower lose to Nathan Aspinall next Thursday in Berlin – which is week nine – then he will equal Snakebite’s terrible tally.
The world No.6 might be a crowd favourite with his David Guetta’s ‘Titanium’ walk-on tune, but his game is shot and he cannot get to six legs before his opponent does.
Littler, 18, whitewashed him 6-0 en route to winning night eight in Newcastle last week, but he said: “Obviously, Steve’s struggling at the minute.
“Once he gets that first win, I’m sure he’ll win quite a few in the Premier League. I think we’re halfway through now.
“I think last week he said he’s putting too much pressure on himself. Obviously, without a win in eight weeks.
“If I was Stephen now, I’d say you’ve just got to relax. You’ve just got to say, come on, just win that first game.
“And I’m sure once he gets that first win and gets that winning feeling, then he’ll go on. Hopefully, I think he could win a night.”
Littler, the defending Premier League champion, tops the table with 26 points thanks to four wins – Glasgow, Brighton, Cardiff and Newcastle.
Nobody has ever won five nights before, but he is likely to get there given he has eight weeks before the Playoffs at London’s O2 Arena on May 29.
The chance to break the 40-point barrier – both he and Jonny Clayton (2022) hold that record – is well within his grasp.
Michael van Gerwen is a seven-time Premier League champion but Littler has time and age on his side to do better, perhaps.
The Warrington teen, the world No.2, said: “How many has Michael got? Seven. If I’m still around, I’ll have a go at breaking it.
“I said it last week, but I want to finish top again. Go back-to-back.
“Obviously now I’m fighting for top and trying to break the nightly win record.”
Premier League Darts 2025: Dates and venues
Night 1 – Belfast: Humphries beat Dobey 6-1
Night 2 – Glasgow: Littler beat Humphries 6-5
Night 3 – Dublin: Price beat Aspinall 6-3
Night 4 – Exeter: Humphries beat Littler 6-4
Night 5 – Brighton: Littler beat Aspinall 6-3
Night 6 – Nottingham: Price beat Littler 6-3
Night 7 – Cardiff: Littler beat Van Gerwen 6-4
Night 8 – Newcastle: Littler beat Humphries 6-1
Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday April 3
Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday April 10
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday April 17
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 24
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 8
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 15
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 22
Play-Offs – The O2, London – Thursday May 29