Empire of the Kop
·4 January 2025
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·4 January 2025
Luke Littler made history on Friday night by becoming the youngest-ever winner of the PDC World Darts Championship.
The 17-year-old emphatically dispatched Michael van Gerwen at the Alexandra Palace in London to claim his first world title, and it’d appear as though this is only the start of an exceptional career for the Warrington native.
Away from his profession, the teenager is an avid Manchester United supporter and will no doubt be hoping they can upset Liverpool when the northwestern rivals face off at Anfield tomorrow.
Speaking to the press after winning the final last night (via Sky Sports), Littler said that he’d take the trophy to Old Trafford if given the opportunity to do so.
He then cheekily declared that he was ‘glad’ to have defeated die-hard Liverpool fan Stephen Bunting in the semi-finals, having been ‘pretty sure’ that the Bullet would’ve been parading the silverware at Anfield this weekend had he been the one to win the tournament on Friday.
(Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images)
Littler is no stranger to taking potshots at the Reds when the opportunity presents itself.
Ahead of our visit to Old Trafford last April, he picked six Man United players in a combined XI of the two clubs, omitting the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz in favour of Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.
A few weeks later, when a round of the Premier League Darts was held in Liverpool the night after the Reds’ title hopes were effectively ended by defeat to Everton, he responded to light-hearted boos from the locals in attendance with a hand gesture referencing the 2-0 scoreline at Goodison Park.
It’s all good-natured banter, of course, and Littler seems like a mature character who can take it as well as dishing it out.
He might have had the upper hand on LFC diehard Bunting during the week, but let’s hope it’s the latter who’s smiling at 6:30 tomorrow evening!