2026 PL Darts Night 8 Preview & Tips – JP
2026 PL Darts Night 8 Preview
Last weekend in Dublin James went 2/3. His 2026 PL Darts Night 8 preview and tips are below.
Night 7 Reflections
It was two out of three last week for a modest +0.56 point profit. The tournament to date tally is now -3.49. We now travel to Berlin, in the heart of Lule Littler’s beloved Germany.
We are halfway through the league stage tonight and this the first of two nights where the top of the table player plays the bottom of the table player, the second placed player plays the second from bottom player and so on.
Having looked at the last four years under this format and the results have seen the player in 1st winning three from four. The 2nd placed player winning three from four. The player in 3rd place has won just one from four and the player in 4th place has won three. The player higher in the table has won 10-6 overall, but the two leading players are 6-2, which should be expected.
This year we have Jonny Clayon as the top player, facing the pointless Josh Rock. It was similar to last year when it was Littler facing a pointless Stephen Bunting and Littler won 6-0. In 2024 Humphries beat Wright 6-1. That was when Wright had just two points to his name. Wright was in the same position in 2023, but while he lost, he did manage to win five legs and in 2022 last placed James Wade beat MVG.
Funnily enough, in this format, MVG has only ever won one match on Night 8, and the same goes for Gerwyn Price.
Jonny Clayton vs. Josh Rock
Clayton suffered his first quarter final defeat of the league stage last weekend, going down 3-6 to Luke Humphries. The same pair ended up contesting the final of the Belgian Darts Open on Sunday night, Humphries winning that 8-6.
Clayton has won seven of his last ten matches and hit eight 95+ averages. He is not at the very top of his game, but he is consistent and hard to beat.
Josh Rock travelled to Belgium for the Euro Tour, but he lost 4-6 to Kim Huybrechts in his opening match. The Northern Irishman has lost five of his last ten matches, and it does look like he is starting to suffer.
80s Averages
His form outside of the PL had been holding up quite well. He reached the semi-final of the UK Open and the quarter final of the European Darts Trophy. However, his last two PL matches have seen averages of 82.88 and 84.2, winning just one leg. Rock has only won thirteen legs from his seven matches so far. His checkout rate is just 21.67%. No doubt he will win a match at some point, maybe just facing someone having an off day, but facing a Steady Eddie Jonny Clayton?
Their H2H record is 6-6 but Clayton has won their last two, both 6-2, including in Night 1, when Rock averaged 101.83. It is hard to see him managing that tonight, but then again, it is hard to see Clayton averaging 109.81, as he did back then.
Clayton is the 1.57 favourite, Rock 2.62.
2026 PL Darts Night 8 Tip: 2 points Jonny Clayton to win -1.5 legs @ 1.91 with BET365
Luke Humphries vs. Michael Van Gerwen
Humphries was delighted to get back to winning titles in Belgium on Sunday, and he will be keen to get his first PL nightly win of the season under his belt. There are only five points covering 3rd place to 7th place and Humphries needs to start putting some distance between him and those below.
He has won eight of his last ten matches, and while his doubling is still on the watch list, it has picked up. He just about got away with missing 24 doubles in his 6-5 win over Dobey in the quarter finals on Sunday. His heavy scoring can get him out of trouble.
MVG had a good run at the weekend, reaching the semi-final, but then getting a 7-2 drubbing by Luke Humphries. MVG had his daughter with him last weekend, and the last time she came to watch him play, he won the World Series Finals. She’ll not be here on a school night. MVG has won five of his last ten matches.
H2H Close
Their H2H record is now 18-17 to Humphries and in 2026, 2-1. None of their three matches in 2026 have been close, with scorelines of 1-6, 6-2 and 7-2. The match Humphries lost saw him checking out at just 18%.
So long as Humphries can check out well enough, his scoring should be enough. He has won his two previous league matches in Berlin. MVG has won one, lost one, but did win the title here when it was the venue for the final in 2022.
With two recent heavy wins for Humphries, he deserves to be the 1.53 favourite and I’ll take him to inflict more damage on Van Gerwen.
2026 PL Darts Night 8 Tip: 1 point Luke Humphries to win -1.5 legs @ 1.85 with Boylesports
Luke Littler vs. Stephen Bunting
Interesting. These two played each other last Thursday. Littler won that 6-3, averaging 105.70. Bunting played well, averaging 104.10 himself. Bunting is not in great form, losing six of his last ten matches, and is lacking consistency, but he can still punch. The Bullet will have some good memories of the Allianz Arena as it was the venue where he got his first points in last year’s PL, and went on to win the night.
Luke Littler has played twice here. He beat Humphries 6-2 in 2024 but lost 2-6 to Chris Dobey last year. His problem last year was that he had already issued an ill-judged social media post that he was not going to play in Germany again, after getting abuse from a Euro Tour crowd in Germany. ‘They don’t like us English’.
Crowd Troubles
That went down like a bowl of cold sick with German fans and since he posted it, he has had to play in the PL, and lost 2-6 and in the European Championship finals, where he lost in the second round. Littler doesn’t have many weaknesses, but how he handles a hostile crowd is one of them.
He is very thinned skinned and trying to take on ten thousand fans is not advisable, as he found in Belfast in Night 4. He doesn’t always lose against a hostile crowd, but he can make it harder.
Their H2H record is 9-4 to Littler and in the PL 4-1. Littler is 1.26 favourite, Bunting 4.50.
Bunting lost on Saturday night in the last two Euro Tour matches, and on both occasions, was playing a home player. He got whistled at crucial times, even in Belgium.
I suggest that any whistling is going to be on Littler’s throw here. If he tries to give it back, Bunting will have the crowd behind him and is perfectly capable of taking advantage. He is due some karmic payback. I am happy to have a small bet on Bunting, or more to the point, against Littler, just because we are playing in Germany.
2026 PL Darts Night 8 Tip: 0.5 point Stephen Bunting to win @ 4.50 with Betfair, Skybet, BET365
Gerwyn Price vs. Gian Van Veen
Gerwyn Price was runner up last Thursday and then took the weekend off to rest. He has played a lot of darts in 2026 and was due a break. He had a lads’ weekend in Benidorm to unwind.
Gian Van Veen had last Thursday off, but that was because he was in hospital, suffering with gallstones.
Van Veen’s form had been tailing off before his medical problem and being hospitalised for a few days will not have helped. It transpired that he required surgery and he has said on social media that while he hopes to be able to travel to Berlin to play, he is feeling very tired. He has been doing some practicing but he will not be fully fit.
Price Fancied
There is a chance that the match doesn’t take place, but if it does, I have to fancy the in-form price to win it. He would have been favourite in any case. Price was 1.70 yesterday, but now that it looks more likely that the match will go ahead, his odds are coming in and he is 1.62.
Price is 9-2 vs. a fully fit Van Veen. In this year’s PL it is 1-1 and both required a deciding leg. With Price rested, and Van Veen having had abdominal surgery, I will take Price on the handicap.
