‘Complete winner’ – Phil Taylor tells Luke Humphries how to overthrow Luke Littler and reveals one thing ex-no.1 is missing

Dec 29, 2025 - 00:30

Luke Humphries must develop a ‘nasty streak’ to become No.1 at the oche again, according to 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.

Luke Littler is currently in the ascendency in the PDC rankings as he continues to power on in his bid to retain his PDC World Championship crown in January.

Luke Littler at the World Championships — Littler is the favourite to retain his crown and run away to No.1 supremacy

The teenage prodigy is favourite to scoop the Sid Waddell trophy once again, and a huge first ever £1 million prize which would see him pull further clear in the PDC Order of Merit.

Humphries appears to be on a collision course with ‘The Nuke’ in the final, with the two arrows geniuses on opposite sides of the draw.

‘Cool Hand’ moved through to the fourth round, avoiding a scare to beat Gabriel Clemens as he continues his own run.

Littler swept away Mensur Suljovic with his personal best average in the same round, and the pair once again look the two to beat.

Humphries will hope that this year will be his year, and he can halt the hype once again, just as he did in 2024 in their epic final.

And iconic tungsten magician Taylor believes that Humphries simply needs to be more ruthless to ensure he wins multiple world crowns.

He said, as quoted by The Sun: “I mean Luke Humphries, for me, is too nice. He’s a lovely lad, he really is. He’s very kind-hearted and he talks lovely and he is very nice.

“Whether he’s got it in the back of his mind, he does need that little bit of a nasty streak in him to be that complete winner.

“To win multiple world titles, you’ve got to be a little bit aggressive and a little bit, you know, wanting it. Fight for it.

“Over the upcoming years, Luke Littler’s form is going to drop. Everybody does.

Humphries is hot on Littler’s coat-tails and is also looking in sensational nick on the Ally Pally stage[/caption]

And Taylor wants Humphries to put niceties to one side to follow in his footsteps and snatch more titles from Littler’s grip

“And it’s a matter of reinventing yourself. How do I get better? What do I do now so I can get up to Michael van Gerwen’s top standard?

“Whoever comes above you, you have to then raise your game to match them and beat them. And that’s the challenge.

“Luke’s been beaten a few times. Now he’s got to improve.”

Taylor is well positioned to offer advice, having scooped a record 16 world titles during his stellar career, brushing away rivals such as Raymond Van Barneveld and Eric Bristow.

Littler and Humphries – a destined meeting in the final?

Littler has had a magnificent year, picking up further major televised world titles including the World Matchplay.

And he has continued his fine fettle, breezing through to the fourth round without dropping a set in North London over the Christmas period.

Humphries has been tested notably against Clemens, and will need to be at his best to navigate a tough draw[/caption]

Littler looks invincible up on stage, but Humphries will be confident he can halt his quest to go back-to-back[/caption]

With victory at Ally Pally again in the early stages of next year, Littler could build an unassailable spot as the king of darts.

It will also see him overtake Humphries by scooping a second world title at the age of just 18.

As for ‘Cool Hand’, he knows he has a task on his hands but has regularly shown he is fired up to go toe-to-toe with Littler throughout the year on the PDC Tour.

But a second victory in a World Championship final against Littler would be his ultimate ambition.

The pair must get there first with the likes of Nathan Aspinall, rising star Gian Van Veen and Michael Van Gerwen likely to try and stand in Humphries’ way.

As for Littler, he will next take on Rob Cross, but is on the favoured side of draw with leading seeds Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price having crashed out earlier on in the tournament.