Michael van Gerwen has criticised world champion Luke Littler for keeping his Premier League rivals waiting at a media day ahead of the 2025 Premier League Darts.

Defending champion Littler and six-time winner Van Gerwen are among the eight competing players who gathered in Belfast on Wednesday, a day before the opening night of the competition takes place in Northern Ireland.

Among the players’ engagements on Wednesday was a group shoot, at which Van Gerwen said Littler arrived 45 minutes late too after oversleeping.

The pair are playing each other in Belfast in a rematch of last month’s World Championship final, which saw the then 17-year-old Littler blow Van Gerwen away to claim his maiden title.

“They need to stop treating him like a baby. He’s not a baby anymore, he’s 18 years old now,” Van Gerwen said with a smile.

“It happens. He has to learn. You have to learn the hard way. It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions. Simple as that.

“If he turns up late for an interview, I don’t mind. But seven other people are waiting for him. That’s not very nice, is it?”

‘Tomorrow is a different day’ – MVG warns Littler

Van Gerwen earlier warned Littler that the teenager’s status as Premier League defending champion will count for nothing when they meet on the opening night.

Littler last year emulated Van Gerwen’s 2013 feat of winning the Premier League on debut, before ‘The Nuke’ went on to claim his maiden World Darts Championship title in January by beating the Dutchman in the final.

The 18-year-old beat Van Gerwen again later in January at the Dutch Darts Masters to further improve a one-sided head-to-head record, but the six-time Premier League champion is unfazed heading into their headline opening-night clash in Belfast on Thursday.

Van Gerwen told Sky Sports: “I won on my debut, against Phil Taylor as well.

“But this is going to be a different day again. Everyone wants to win but there only can be one winner. Of course, everyone is going to need their points, but you have to take it week by week because it’s a long 17 weeks.

“It’s a tough format. It’s only short, so you have to be sharp constantly straight from the beginning, and if you do well there’s another two games waiting. I love performing in this tournament so I don’t see any problems with this one.”

Van Gerwen appeared to have found something near his best form on his way to the final at Alexandra Palace as he sought a first world title since 2019, but was blown away in the final as Littler won 7-3 to claim his maiden crown.

The Dutchman added: “Most of the tournament I produced some really good darts and also my mental aspect of the game I think it was good.

“To lose is always annoying but I get a lot of positives out of this World Championship campaign and moving forwards I think it only can help me.”

Littler: I’ve got most of the wins over MVG

Littler appeared in a confident mood as he targeted a “quick start” against Van Gerwen on Thursday.

“Obviously, I’ve got most of the wins over Michael,” Littler told Sky Sports. “But I’m just hoping for another quick start and to guarantee two points on the board.

“It feels amazing to come back and defend the Premier League, coming in as a world champion whereas last year you could say I was a wild card.

“I’m full of confidence but darts is probably better than what it was this time last year. But I’m hoping to get the win over Michael.”

Littler admits the best-of-11-legs format only serves to increase his confidence.

He said: “I absolutely love the format. That’s the format I suit most. Get off to a quick start, win the first two or three legs and then it is hard for the opponent to come back at me.”

Making his Premier League debut shortly after bursting onto the professional scene at the 2023/2024 World Darts Championship, Littler admitted he found the tournament’s intense schedule challenging.

But worryingly for his rivals, he believes his experience from last year will only boost his chances this time around.

He said: “The travel is probably one of the worst parts but I can take what happened last year and bring it into this year. I know what’s coming, I know what to expect and I can say I’m used to the schedule now.”

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