Luke Littler claims he is ready to face the boos head-on when Premier League Darts lands in Liverpool on Thursday. The outspoken Manchester United fan has not been shy in antagonising supporters of their bitter Merseyside rivals in the past, and he is sure to get another hostile welcome when he walks out at the M&S Bank Arena.
Stephen Bunting certainly has no plans to shelter him from the crowd. The Reds-mad thrower is good friends with Littler away from the oche, but it is every man for themselves on the Premier League stage, and he has needled Littler about being ‘fragile’ after the teenager pledged to avoid a string of upcoming events in Germany following this week’s European Tour event in Munich.
“Football rivalries will always be part of the sport, one way or another, but it’s a dangerous path to go down,” said Bunting. “Last year, I was there as a fan and he was mocking us for getting beat 2-0 by Everton, and I don’t think people forget stuff like that.
“I would imagine he’s going to get a few boos from a Liverpool crowd and, with how fragile he is at the minute after his experience in Germany, I don’t think he likes it – but sometimes you can bring it on yourself.”
Littler has seemingly hit back at those comments by claiming he can’t wait to face the music. He posted on X: “One of the best nights on the Premier League calendar coming up tomorrow, bring on the boos Liverpool“.
Littler made a hasty exit from the German Darts Grand Prix after losing in the semi-finals to Gian van Veen on Monday. ‘The Nuke’ looked uncomfortable with quarter-final opponent Peter Wright receiving supportive chants from the crowd earlier in the night.
And he admitted to having trouble dealing with the frosty reception he got during Berlin’s evening of Premier League Darts this month. “I just don’t get it, and I can’t explain it,” he said.
“Obviously, you do your walk-on, but then as soon as I got on stage, I started getting booed. I got booed in Hildesheim last year against Peter Wright on the European Tour. I was flying and then they started booing me and I lost. It’s something we’ve all got to deal with.”
League leader Littler will get his night in Liverpool underway against Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals, while Bunting, who needs to keep racking up points in order to move off the foot of the table, faces Rob Cross.