Phil Taylor names the only THREE players who can stop Luke Littler winning hat-trick of World Darts Championships

PHIL TAYLOR has named just THREE players he believes can seriously threaten Luke Littler at the World Championship – with one of them having just battered The Nuke. The 16-time world champion singled out Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton as the men most capable of stopping Littler from completing a hat-trick of Ally Pally crowns this winter. Darts legend Phil Taylor believes only three players can beat Luke Littler at the World Championship Credit: Getty Luke Humphries beat Littler in the 2024 World Championship final Credit: Getty Images – Getty Taylor told SunSport: “At the minute, the only person who can give Luke Littler a game is Luke Humphries. Gerwyn Price, he can do it too. Very, very good player. “Jonny Clayton, on his day, he’s a brilliant finisher. But there’s only four or five in that tournament who could really win it.” Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! And Taylor’s shout for Clayton already looks well-timed after The Ferret stunned Littler 10-4 in Sunday’s World Series of Darts Finals quarter-final in Amsterdam. The Welshman punished a string of missed doubles from the world No1 and produced finishes of 136 and 121 on the bull during a superb victory. Clayton, 51, is currently ranked fifth in the world and has plenty of big-stage pedigree, having won the Premier League, Masters, World Grand Prix and World Series Finals during a stunning 2021 campaign. But the World Darts Championship remains the biggest prizes missing from his collection. Humphries, meanwhile, knows exactly what it takes to conquer Ally Pally after beating Littler in the 2024 final. The world No2 has remained Littler’s most consistent rival at the top of the sport. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Price is the third name on Taylor’s list. The fiery Welshman became world champion in 2021 and remains one of darts’ most dangerous players when he hits top gear. The former rugby star reached the World Series Finals final this weekend before losing to Ross Smith. Taylor said: “There’s only a handful of players that can actually win it. But I think at the minute, there’s only a handful of players who actually believe they can win it.” He then delivered a brutal assessment of the rest of the field, adding: “A lot of people are just making up the numbers.” Littler will head to Alexandra Palace as the two-time defending champion after thrashing Gian van Veen 7-1 in January’s final. The 19-year-old is already world No1 and has continued piling up major silverware throughout 2026, including the Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Matchplay. The 2026-27 World Championship runs from Friday December 11 until Sunday January 3. List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included. 1994 – Dennis Priestley 1995 – Phil Taylor 1996 – Phil Taylor (2) 1997 – Phil Taylor (3) 1998 – Phil Taylor (4) 1999 – Phil Taylor (5) 2000 – Phil Taylor (6) 2001 – Phil Taylor (7) 2002 – Phil Taylor (8) 2003 – John Part 2004 – Phil Taylor (9) 2005 – Phil Taylor (10) 2006 – Phil Taylor (11) 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld 2008 – John Part (2) 2009 – Phil Taylor (12) 2010 – Phil Taylor (13) 2011 – Adrian Lewis 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 – Phil Taylor (14) 2014 – Michael van Gerwen 2015 – Gary Anderson 2016 – Gary Anderson (2) 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 – Rob Cross 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 – Peter Wright 2021 – Gerwyn Price 2022 – Peter Wright (2) 2023 – Michael Smith 2024 – Luke Humphries 2025 – Luke Littler 2026 – Luke Littler (2) Most World Titles 14 – Phil Taylor 3 – Michael van Gerwen 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Luke Littler 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries Taylor gave his verdict while judging hopefuls for Netflix‘s Beat Luke Littler. The show will see 20 amateurs attempt to beat Littler in a single leg of 501 for £501,000 on October 30. The Manchester Central Convention Complex is the stage for the show, which will be hosted by Gary Lineker with expert analysis from Richard Osman. Comment now