Luke Littler has effectively guaranteed his place in the Premier League playoffs with victory in Liverpool on Thursday night.

The World Championship runner-up went into week 13 sitting level on points with Luke Humphries, the player who beat him at the Alexandra Palace in January.

However, Humphries would lose 6-2 to Nathan Aspinall in his opening match, the game after Littler had posted a 6-3 win over Gerwyn Price.

Littler would subsequently edge out fellow North West player Aspinall in a deciding leg to set up a final with Rob Cross.

Although Cross is struggling in sixth place, he recorded 6-4 and 6-2 victories over Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen to set himself up to win his first weekly competition.

Instead, the 33-year-old would be outplayed by a relentless Littler, who powered into a 5-0 lead and threatened the first whitewash of this year's tournament.

To his credit, Cross would take the next two legs and end the contest with an average of in excess of 100, yet it was not enough to prevent Littler's 105.32 in a 6-2 victory.

As a result, Littler now sits a massive five points clear of Humphries, and as many as 11 points clear of fifth place with just three weeks remaining.

Humphries, Aspinall and Van Gerwen are separated by just two points in second to fourth, with fifth-placed Smith four points behind Van Gerwen and desperately requiring his second weekly win.

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