2026 PL Darts Night 4 Preview & Tips – JP
2026 PL Darts Night 4 Preview
The fourth night of the Premier League of Darts season comes from Belfast in Northern Ireland. It is home advantage for Josh Rock, but he may not get a hero’s welcome from some in the crowd. Night 3 didn’t go as planned for James Punt but he is aiming to bounce back, his 2026 PL Darts Night 4 preview and tips are below.
Night 3 Reflections
Night three was a wipe out and a three point loss, meaning we are back in familiar PL territory, a negative points balance. But its only -0.17 points. Tonight is a back to black challenge, as it so often is during the PLs.
The good news was that Jonny Clayton won the night and our bet on him to make the semi-finals is already looking promising. He is now a 2.63 shot and we backed him at 4.33.
Tonight, the PL travels to Belfast for night four, so we have a ‘home advantage night’. Josh Rock should have at least half the crowd on his side. He could have had the whole crowd on his side, but his shenanigans with his Rangers walk on in Glasgow may have denied him that.
MVG Illness
Michael van Gerwen pulled out of last week’s matches due to illness. It was a shame for him, as he would have faced a very out of sorts Luke Littler and would have picked up more points rather than two points being handed to Littler and MVG being deducted 6 legs as per the rules.
MVG also pulled out of the Poland Darts Open, and both the Players Championship events this week. I am not sure what he has got, but he was put on a course of antibiotics, so it is not the flu.
PC6 Win For Price
Gerwyn Price did play last week, but he clearly wasn’t well, played poorly and lost to Clayton. He also withdrew from the Poland Darts Open but he was back in action in the Players Championships and won PC6 yesterday, before dashing to Birmingham airport for the 9.30pm Easy Jet flight to Belfast. He will definitely be playing.
Both examples highlight the problems of playing a tournament over 17 weeks. Players can/will get sick and they have to decide whether to play while ill and at least win a few legs or withdraw and get -6 legs awarded. Price decided to play, MVG didn’t, so I expect that MVG was properly sick.
Van Gerwen has posted on SM – ‘Not fully fit yet, but I’ll be back’. He means for Night 4, in Belfast.
Luke Littler vs. Jonny Clayton
This is a repeat of last week’s semi-final match, which Clayton won 6-1. It was a strange match. Littler clearly wasn’t at the races. The scheduling of the matches was a bit strange.
He had been due to play MVG but got a bye due to Van Gerwen pulling out. He had to wait for the other three quarter-finals to be played and then wait for the first semi-final to be played. Littler was hanging around for quite a while. Perhaps that just knocked him out of whack?
His form was restored at the weekend as Littler won the first ever Poland Darts Open and he did so in fine style, hitting four ton plus averages along the way.
R3 Polish Exit
Clayton went out in the third round in Poland but he turned up for this week’s Players Championships and reached the semi-final yesterday, losing to, who else but Gerwyn Price. In this format, Clayton has lost both his quarter final matches in Belfast.
Both players have won seven of their last ten matches, but Littler has been playing better darts, he just couldn’t hit a double last this time last week.
Their H2H record is 4-2 to Littler and I expect normal service to be resumed tonight. That said, Littler has played four PL matches in 2026, and lost three.
Littler is the 1.28 favourite, Clayton 4.30. You can get 1.91 with Clayton +2.5 on the handicap, which might be the way to go, but I will sit this one out. No bet.
2026 PL Darts Night 4 Tip: No Bet
Stephen Bunting vs. Luke Humphries
It is time for Bunting to get a score on the table. He sits one place above Rock but has lost his first three matches. Memories of 2025 must be looming large.
He lost his quarter final match here last year, 4-6 to Rob Cross. Bunting has won six of his last ten matches and is actually playing his best stuff in the PL. He is averaging 98.99 so far, but his doubling is letting him down. The doubles and fear….the fear of losing.
Outside of the PL, Bunting has won seven of his last ten matches, and two of those losses were to Luke Humphries. He lost 1-6 to Humphries in Poland on Sunday, and 3-6 in PL4 ten days ago.
Cool Hand Frustrated
Luke Humphries is getting frustrated. He said in an interview after losing the semi-final in Poland at the weekend that he is playing the best darts of anyone but drops the ball in the later stages. He lost his semi-final last Thursday and the semi-final on Sunday. Both were to Gian van Veen, and I think he has got a Van Veen problem.
Humphries might have a Van Veen problem but he doesn’t have Bunting problem. He is 16-8 against Bunting, has won their last four in a row and twice in the last ten days. In last year’s PL it was 3-1 to Humphries.
Cool Hand is 1.36 to win, Bunting 3.40. Humphries needs the points as well. He has only won two matches, and like Bunting, it is his doubles that have not been great. He should relish playing Bunting and returning to Belfast where he won the night last year.
Humphries has covered a -1.5 leg handicap in their last four matches, and five of their last six.
2026 PL Darts Night 4 Tip: 1 point Luke Humphries to win -1.5 legs @ 1.70 with Unibet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Gerwyn Price
Price played some amazing darts yesterday when winning PC6. He averaged 102.80 across his seven matches. He only lost ten legs and hit five ton plus averages, including a 109.
MVG hasn’t played since losing 3-6 to Price on Night 2. He says that he is playing, but he isn’t feeling 100%. MVG has always won his quarter final match here in Belfast but is yet to win the night. Gerwyn Price has very mixed memories of playing here. He hit two nine darters in one match and won the night in 2022 but hasn’t won a match here since.
Price was in great form just yesterday, MVG isn’t feeling great and his last match was a loss to Price. MVG used to be Price’s bogeyman. Price lost his first fifteen matches against him but since his first win, Price is 19-20 vs. MVG and has won two of their three in 2026. Those two wins were 6-0 and 6-3.
Price is 1.67 to win, which is fair, but I will take him on the handicap.
2026 PL Darts Night 4 Tip: 1 point Gerwyn Price to win -1.5 legs @ 2.15 with Ladbrokes
Gian van Veen vs. Josh Rock
Rock may not have the mental scars that Bunting carries, but he will know that he is played three, lost three, and bottom of the table. Overall, he has lost five of his last ten matches, but outside of his bizarre 2-6 loss to MVG on Night 2, Rock has been playing a lot of good darts, but he still has more blips than the rest of these elite players.
Gian van Veen is playing like a proper elite level player. He has won seven of his last ten matches and had nine 95+ averages, with a low of 94.57. He is very consistent and has reached two of the three finals in the PL so far in 2026. Gian lost 6-6 to Price in a quarter final, but that was a match he should really have won.
Their H2H record is 7-5 to Van Veen, but Rock has won their last four in a row.
Van Veen Fav
Van Veen is the 1.62 favourite, Rock 2.60. It is hard to know what to make of that H2H record. Van Veen used to boss Rock, but more recently it is the other way round. Will home advantage be a help or a hindrance for Rock? The home crowd used to have Daryl Gurney to cheer on and he was 1-1 at home, both vs. Rob Cross.
Van Veen is the better player right now, he even hit a nine darter in his 4-8 loss to Littler in the final of the Poland Darts Open on Sunday. I can see this being close, but Rock has lost all three PL matches 2-6. Rock says this is the one, this will be his first win. I’m not so sure. Van Veen is hard to beat right now.
