LUKE ‘The Nuke’ Littler will face Scotland’s Peter Wright for the first time when Premier League Darts Night 4 takes place in Newcastle on Thursday night.

Wright is yet to open his account in this year’s Premier League, but he enjoyed a welcome return to form by reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals in this week’s Players Championship double-header in Leicester.

For the first time in Premier League Darts, 17-year-old Littler bowed out at the quarter-final stage in Glasgow last week.

Having won at least one match in his first two nights in the tournament, the former Runcorn resident was edged out by Gerwyn Price in the deciding leg.

Michael van Gerwen went on to win the night for the second week in a row, beating world champion Luke Humphries to extend his lead at the top of the table.

Littler and Wright are due on the Utilita Arena stage at 8.15pm in the third of the quarter-finals, with the winner to face either Price or Van Gerwen in the last four.

Competing players in 2024 PDC Premier League Darts:

Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Luke Littler.

Schedule for PDC Premier League Darts Night 4, Utilita Arena, Newcastle, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, February 22:

Quarter-final 1: Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall, 7.15pm

Quarter-final 2: Rob Cross v Luke Humphries, 7.45pm

Quarter-final 3: Peter Wright v Luke Littler, 8.15pm

Quarter-final 4: Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen, 8.45pm

Semi-final 1: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 2, 9.15pm

Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v Winner of QF 4, 9.45pm

Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.30pm

PDC Premier League Order of Merit:

1 Michael van Gerwen 10pts

2 Michael Smith 7pts

3 Luke Littler 5pts

4 Luke Humphries 5pts

5 Gerwyn Price 5pts

6 Rob Cross 4pts

7 Nathan Aspinall 0pts

8 Peter Wright 0pts

Format for PDC Premier League nights 2024:

Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).

Players will face each other twice in quarter-final ties throughout the season, with the fixtures being balanced for players to be in opposite halves of the draw in an equal number of weeks.

The fixtures for Night 8 and Night 16 will be based on the league table following Night 7 and Night 15 respectively.

The top four players from the final league table will progress to the Play-Offs, which will feature the semi-finals over the best of 19 legs and the final over the best of 21 legs.

The order of throw for all league night matches will be decided by a bull-off, which will be conducted beforehand in the practice room. For the Play-Offs, the semi-finals will see the higher-placed player from the final league table throw first, with a bull-off for the final.

League Points per Night:

Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus

Runner-Up - 3 points

Semi-Finalists - 2 points

Prize Fund:

Winner - £275,000

Runner-Up - £125,000

Semi-Finalists - £85,000 each

Fifth in League Table - £75,000

Sixth in League Table - £70,000

Seventh in League Table - £65,000

Eighth in League Table - £60,000

Nightly Winner Bonus - £10,000 x16

Total - £1,000,000

Schedule for remaining PDC Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:

Night 4, Newcastle, February 22: Smith v Aspinall, Cross v Humphries, Wright v Littler, Price v Van Gerwen.

Night 5, Exeter, February 29: Humphries v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Wright, Price v Cross, Littler v Smith.

Night 6, Brighton, March 7: Humphries v Price, Cross v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Littler, Smith v Wright.

Night 7, Nottingham, March 14: Wright v Price, Humphries v Smith, Van Gerwen v Littler, Cross v Aspinall.

Night 8, Dublin, March 21: Fixtures confirmed following Night Seven.

Night 9, Belfast, March 28: Humphries v Littler, Smith v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Price, Cross v Wright.

Night 10, Manchester, April 4: Aspinall v Cross, Littler v Van Gerwen, Smith v Humphries, Price v Wright.

Night 11, Birmingham, April 11: Wright v Humphries, Cross v Littler, Price v Smith, Van Gerwen v Aspinall.

Night 12, Rotterdam Ahoy, April 18: Smith v Littler, Cross v Price, Wright v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Humphries.

Night 13, Liverpool, April 25: Littler v Price, Humphries v Aspinall, Wright v Van Gerwen, Smith v Cross.

Night 14, Aberdeen, May 2: Wright v Smith, Littler v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Cross, Price v Humphries.

Night 15, Leeds, May 9: Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Wright, Humphries v Cross, Aspinall v Smith.

Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Fixtures confirmed following Night 15.

Play-Offs: The O2, London, May 23: The top four players after 16 nights.

Story of 2024 so far for Luke Littler:

PDC World Darts Championship runner-up

Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, including first leg nine-darter in quarter-final

Dutch Darts Masters runner-up

Premier League Night 1 (Cardiff) semi-finalist

Premier League Night 2 (Berlin) finalist

Players Championship 1 (Wigan) winner, including nine-darter in the last 32