Luke Littler’s Next Match | Opponent, Date, Form and What to Watch

Luke Littler starts the new season as world number one and back-to-back World Champion; we look at when the teenager is back in action.

The 19-year-old joined Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis as only the fourth player to retain the PDC world title and capped off an extraordinary year of dominance by triumphing at Alexandra Palace in January.

Littler added a staggering six major ranking titles to his haul in 2025, including the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.

In doing so, he has leapfrogged rival Luke Humphries to become the new world number one and emphatically retained the Sid Waddell Trophy to become the sport’s first single tournament millionaire.

Upcoming Match Details

Littler affirmed his position as darts’ dominant force by thrashing Gian van Veen 7-1 in the most one-sided PDC World Championship final since Phil Taylor defeated Raymond van Barneveld by the same scoreline in 2009.

He returned to televised action just 12 days later at the Bahrain Darts Masters – where his 83-day unbeaten run in all competitions was brought to an end by Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals.

Normal service was quickly resumed a matter of days later as Littler become the inaugural Saudi Arabia Darts Masters champion courtesy of an 8-5 victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final.

The Nuke then continued his remarkable spree of major ranking titles by capturing the Winmau World Masters crown for the first time courtesy of an enthralling deciding-set victory over his great rival Luke Humphries in the final, leaving only the European Championship for a clean sweep inside three seasons.

Having sensationally retained the UK Open title in Minehead before going on reclaim the Premier League crown and partner Luke Humphries to World Cup of Darts glory for England, Littler now turns his attention to his World Matchplay title defence in Blackpool this week.

Littler’s next match sees him come up against Dirk van Duijvenbode in the semi-finals at the Winter Gardens from around 9.30pm BST on Saturday July 25.

Form and Recent Performances

Littler has now won eight of the last nine major ranking tournaments, with only the European Championship missing from his collection.

Littler is also out to continue his clean sweep of major titles this season, having won the World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Cup of Darts.

Having reclaimed the Premier League title with victory over rival Luke Humphries in a pulsating final at The O2 in May, Littler then partnered Humphries to World Cup glory for England in Frankfurt the following month.

Littler is bidding to become only the fourth player in the history of the competition to successfully retain the World Matchplay title.

The teenage sensation became the youngest player (18) ever to lift the Phil Taylor trophy when he triumphed here last year with victory over James Wade in the final, following on from his nine-dart heroics in an epic semi-final against Josh Rock.

Littler has won the last five major ranking titles, with his last defeat in a ranked major coming against James Wade in last October’s European Championship.

The world number one stormed past German debutant Niko Springer on opening night with a 109.5 average, before producing one of the best displays ever seen at the Winter Gardens to defeat a gallant Nathan Aspinall 11-8.

Littler’s 113.68 average was the second highest in World Matchplay history and featured a roof-raising nine-darter in the opening leg of the contest – doubling his tally of perfect legs at the Empress Ballroom following his semi-final heroics last year.

He then produced a devastating mid-match burst to dispose of Josh Rock 16-7 with a 109.5 average and a staggering 17 maximums.

How Littler matches up against his next opponent

Van Duijvenbode is gearing up for the biggest match of his career since reaching the final of the World Grand Prix behind closed doors back in 2020.

The energetic Dutch star has overcome the injury turmoil which threatened to curtail his career in recent years and his exploits this week have seen him climb a minimum of five places to 23rd in the provisional rankings.

Van Duijvenbode has defied his unseeded status this week to pull off terrific wins over Chris Dobey and former champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, notably averaging 101.5 in the latter tie.

He is appearing in a first major ranking semi-final since the 2024 Players Championship Finals and comes up against Littler for the first time in a TV major, having lost four of their five previous meetings.

What to watch out for in this match

• Littler has won four of his previous five matches against Van Duijvenbode in PDC competition
• Littler is unbeaten in major ranking competition since October 2025
• Littler boasts a tournament average of 110.8 to Van Duijvenbode’s 96.7

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