Twelve matches, six wins each. Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen has become a box-office matchup over the last 12 months, and the rivalry will reach its peak on Friday in the World Cup final.
Littler's meteoric rise to the 2024 World Darts Championship, where he finished runner-up to Luke Humphries, was backed up by Premier League, World Series of Darts and Grand Slam of Darts final titles.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, did not win a televised tournament in 2024, the first time he has not won in a calendar year since 2011.
Friday's final is by far the most important meeting between the two, as Van Gerwen seeks his fourth world title and Littler his first.
So, how did we get here?
Littler drops the marker but MVG counters
Two weeks after last year's World Darts Championship, Littler made nine darts in his quarter-final victory over Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Darts Masters to meet Van Gerwen in the final on 19 January.
It was the first of many meetings between two of darts' most talented players and Littler went 8-5 to lift his first senior PDC title on his World Series debut.
Van Gerwen has vowed to do better the next time the pair meet; that he would “get” Littler. He did just that just a week later on home soil at the Dutch Darts Masters.
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Michael Bridge looks back at Luke Littler's stunning journey to success at the Bahrain Masters, which saw the 16-year-old beat some of the biggest names in darts as well as fire nine darts
In a thrilling final, both players clashed and nothing separated them until the last game when Van Gerwen punished a missed 170 from Littler to win 8-6.
“Luke put me under so much pressure,” said Van Gerwen, who won his 16th World Series of Darts title.
“Luke has a very bright future ahead of him. We all know that, but you still want to stop him, and you have to do the right things against him, which I did tonight.
“His scoring power is huge so you have to keep fighting, but I'm glad I did.”
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Michael van Gerwen defeated Luke Littler 6-5 in a dramatic final game on the second night of the Premier League Darts
Big Premier League clashes
The format of the Premier League Darts means that the eight best players in the world meet every Thursday for 17 weeks, so of course we would see plenty of Van Gerwen v Littler.
On another night in early February, Littler missed two darts in the Berlin final and Van Gerwen punished him to win 6-5 and let out a huge roar when he won, underlining how much it meant to the Dutchman to beat the teenager.
Two weeks later in Newcastle, Van Gerwen again defeated Littler in the decider, this time in the semi-finals, and he went on to win the night.
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Luke Littler missed a punch from Michael van Gerwen and left him hanging awkwardly during their Premier League semi-final at Newcastle in February. Their rivalry will be reunited at World Matchplay!
However, the next three matches went Littler's way. On Night 7 in Nottingham, Littler averaged a sensational 114 with a stunning 6-2 quarter-final win over Van Gerwen. It was a match in which Van Gerwen “finished” Littler's effort with nine darts.
Littler took full advantage of Van Gerwen with two 6-3 wins in the following weeks, but the Dutchman won the Night 11 final with a 6-3 victory.
The last Premier League meeting was won by Van Gerwen 6-1, but Littler ended up winning the whole thing as MVG lost in the semi-finals to Humphries.
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Shepmates are back with another hilarious commentary, this time on Luke Littler's nine goals in the Premier League
Van Gerwen stuns Littler at World Matchplay
Van Gerwen and Littler drew each other in the first round of the World Matchplay and it was, surprisingly, a one-sided contest.
The three-time world champion knocked Littler out 6-1, but lost to Humphries in the final.
Littler outplayed Van Gerwen in the semi-finals of the World Series of Darts and the European Tour, so he has been in better form of late.
Still, looking at the bigger moments, Van Gerwen has the upper hand and that could be important on Friday.
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The best action from the final series of first round matches at the World Matchplay Darts from Winter Gardens, Blackpool
What do Van Gerwen and Littler think of each other?
Michael van Gerwen:
“I think he's great. What he has done for the sport is great. Fair play to him.
“Television and social media are big helping him. It's generally good for darts. I don't mind.”
Luke Littler:
“As I got older, I watched more and more darts. The first (Van Gerwen match) I remember was the 2017 final when he beat Gary (Anderson).
“He's been around for years and years and I'm sure he's not going to change for anyone.”
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Luke Littler explains how he copes with fame, what he does to cope with his busy schedule and his thoughts on Manchester United
What's next?
Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen will meet in the World Final on Friday night at Alexandra Palace
Luke Littler is one win away from making history after reaching his second consecutive world championship final. The 17-year-old from Warrington will take on Michael van Gerwen, who is chasing his fourth world title after bulldozing his way to the final. Watch the drama unfold from 7.30pm this Friday Sky Sports Darts.
Watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports
Littler celebrates with the Premier League darts trophy
See all the action from Premier League he Sky Sports with Luke Littler wants to defend his title. The new Premier League season kicks off in Belfast on Thursday 6 February as darts' biggest party returns to an unchanged line-up of 17 venues across the UK and Europe.
Who will win the Premier League Darts? Watch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and other top sports with SADA.