Littler 5/6 favourite for 2026 Premier League after fresh lineup revealed
World Champion Luke Littler has been installed as the 5/6 favourite for darts' 2026 Premier League after the eight-man lineup was confirmed on Monday afternoon.
Littler, fresh off the back of lifting the 2026 PDC World Championship at the weekend, will renew rivalries with last year's winner Luke Humphries, who beat him in last year's final.
Cool Hand is the 11/2 second favourite to retain his crown, despite having exited the recent World Championship at the quarter-final stage.
Michael van Gerwen (14/1), Gerwyn Price (14/1) and Stephen Bunting (33/1) all retain their spots from last year despite underwhelming Ally Pally campaigns, but there is no place for last year's semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall, with Rob Cross and Chris Dobey also losing their spots.
Instead, there is a recall for Jonny Clayton after a stellar 2025. The Ferret, who lifted the Premier League title in 2021, is rated a 50/1 outsider of the field to repeat the feat five years on, with bookmakers instead preferring the chances of two debutants in the form of Gian van Veen and Josh Rock.
Dutch sensation Van Veen, who knocked out both Humphries and Gary Anderson en route to the PDC World Championship final this month, is a 7/1 chance with Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Bet to pick up the Premier League title at the first attempt.
Meanwhile, Rock – who cruised to round three at the worlds before falling to a sensational doubling performance from surprise package Justin Hood – is put in at 14/1 to win the 17-week global roadshow on his maiden attempt.
An engrossing year of arrows in 2025 saw a host of stars propel themselves into the Premier League conversation. However, as always, most of them have fallen short of a call-up.
James Wade can arguably consider himself the most hard done by. The Machine made two major finals last year in the UK Open and World Matchplay (losing both to Littler) but openly admitted he expected to be overlooked for the Premier League in July. A second-round exit at Ally Pally to Ricky Evans was seemingly the final nail in his coffin this time around.
There had also been cries from darts fans for Danny Noppert to be included in this year's edition after a fabulous end to 2025 which saw the Freeze make semi-final runs at the World Grand Prix, European Championship and Grand Slam of Darts.
But again, the Dutchman was a player who probably needed a deep run at the World Championship to really force himself into the line-up and like Rock, he fell victim to the impressive Hood in an epic round-two encounter.
A stunning run to the World Championship semi-finals wasn't enough to earn Ryan Searle a late call-up, despite him now being ranked world number eight. Meanwhile, world number six Gary Anderson would surely have been a shoe-in had he not already ruled himself out of contention due to a reluctance to take on the travelling at this stage of his career.
Sitting top of betting markets is becoming par for the course with Littler currently and bookmakers wasted no time making him odds-on for a third straight PDC World Championship crown in 2027.
The Nuke, who went off odds-against with most bookmakers for this year's edition before dropping just four sets en route to a bloodless triumph, opened up EVS with some firms for next year's renewal shortly after thumping Gian van Veen 7-1 in Saturday night's final.
However, punters wasted little time getting stuck into that price and it seems something extraordinary will need to occur in the coming months for the youngster to drift beyond now unified odds-on quotes.
LiveScore Bet and BetMGM are the only firms holding strong at 5/6 on Littler currently, with the rest of the marketplace going 4/5 or 8/11 for him to take next year's world crown.
2024 winner Humphries remains a clear second-favourite there at 6/1, with this year's runner-up Van Veen a 7/1 chance. The remainder of the field are 20/1 or bigger at the time of writing.
All odds in this article were correct as of 5pm on Monday January 5th, 2026.
Matt Hill is Odds Now's Head of Content and leads our digital operation, while also offering his insight as a tipster across darts and football.
Having worked in the industry for the best part of a decade, including extended stints with Betfred and LiveScore, Matt joined the project in May 2024 with the sole aim of making Odds Now a key player in the betting content space.
He has also forged a reputation as a respected darts tipster, landing numerous three-figure outright winners over the years, while his love for lower league football also helps him pick out the odd obscure winner in that space.
When not at the editorial desk, Matt enjoys travelling the country supporting his beloved Carlisle United FC, chucking a few arrows and spending time with his young family.
Matt Hill is Odds Now's Head of Content and leads our digital operation, while also offering his insight as a tipster across darts and football.
Having worked in the industry for the best part of a decade, including extended stints with Betfred and LiveScore, Matt joined the project in May 2024 with the sole aim of making Odds Now a key player in the betting content space.
He has also forged a reputation as a respected darts tipster, landing numerous three-figure outright winners over the years, while his love for lower league football also helps him pick out the odd obscure winner in that space.
When not at the editorial desk, Matt enjoys travelling the country supporting his beloved Carlisle United FC, chucking a few arrows and spending time with his young family.
Matt's p/l
7 Days
30 Days
Year 2026
Your 2026 @BetMGMUK Premier League stars...✨
