PREMIER League Darts is BACK – with fans treated to 17 weeks of thrilling action.

Last year, teenage sensation Luke Littler claimed the iconic title in his debut year.

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Luke Littler is eyeing back-to-back Premier League Darts titles[/caption]

The 18-year-old superstar topped the Premier League table after 16 thrilling weeks of action and went on to continue his success by triumphing on finals night.

Littler claimed a massive £315k in total from the blockbuster tournament last year.

PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS NIGHT 2 – LIVE UPDATES

The world champion will be looking to join darting royalty Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen in becoming only the third player to win successive Premier League titles.

SunSport brings you the latest Premier League standings below…

Premier League Darts table

The Premier League Darts points system works as follows: The winner on the night gets five points, the runner-up three points, and the two losing semi-finalists receive two points.

Here are the latest standings after night 2:

1 Luke Humphries…8
2 Luke Littler…5
3 Michael van Gerwen…4
4 Chris Dobey…3
5 Rob Cross…2
6 Gerwyn Price…2
7 Nathan Aspinall…0
8 Stephen Bunting…0

Premier League Darts fixtures and results

Night One – Thursday, February 6
The SSE Arena, Belfast
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting 4-6 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 5-6 Michael van Gerwen
Nathan Aspinall 2-6 Luke Humphries
Semi-finals
Chris Dobey 6-4 Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Luke Humphries
Final
Luke Humphries 6-1 Chris Dobey

Night Two – Thursday, February 13
OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Quarter-Finals
Rob Cross 5-6 Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall 4-6 Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries 6-4 Chris Dobey
Semi-finals
Luke Littler 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Gerwyn Price 4-6 Luke Humphries
Final
Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries

Night Three – Thursday, February 20
3Arena, Dublin
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries vs Stephen Bunting
Gerwyn Price vs Luke Littler
Rob Cross vs Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen vs Chris Dobey

Night Four – Thursday, February 27
Westpoint Exeter
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen vs Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price vs Luke Humphries
Chris Dobey vs Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting vs Luke Littler

Night Five – Thursday, March 6
The Brighton Centre
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price vs Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler vs Chris Dobey
Rob Cross vs Luke Humphries
Stephen Bunting vs Nathan Aspinall

Night Six – Thursday, March 13
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler
Rob Cross vs Chris Dobey
Stephen Bunting vs Gerwyn Price
Nathan Aspinall vs Michael van Gerwen

Night Seven – Thursday, March 20
Utilita Arena, Cardiff
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey vs Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries vs Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price vs Rob Cross

Night Eight – Thursday, March 27
Utilita Arena, Newcastle
Draw Bracket based on league table following Night Seven

Night Nine – Thursday, April 3
Uber Arena, Berlin
Quarter-Finals
Nathan Aspinall vs Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries vs Rob Cross
Chris Dobey vs Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen vs Gerwyn Price

Night Ten – Thursday, April 10
AO Arena, Manchester
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey vs Michael van Gerwen
Nathan Aspinall vs Rob Cross
Luke Littler vs Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting vs Luke Humphries

Night 11 – Thursday, April 17
Rotterdam Ahoy
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey vs Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price vs Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting vs Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler vs Rob Cross

Night 12 – Thursday, April 24
M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries vs Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler
Rob Cross vs Stephen Bunting
Gerwyn Price vs Chris Dobey

Night 13 – Thursday, May 1
Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler vs Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall vs Chris Dobey
Luke Humphries vs Gerwyn Price
Rob Cross vs Michael van Gerwen

Night 14 – Thursday, May 8
First Direct Arena, Leeds
Quarter-Finals
Rob Cross vs Gerwyn Price
Nathan Aspinall vs Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Humphries
Stephen Bunting vs Chris Dobey

Night 15 – Thursday, May 15
P&J Live, Aberdeen
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price vs Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey vs Rob Cross
Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries

Night 16 – Thursday, May 22
Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Draw Bracket based on league table following Night 15

Play-Offs – Thursday, May 29
The O2, London
Semi-Finals and Final

IT IS the worst ‘big match’ in Premier League history.

The first time that two of English football’s so-called elite have met at such an advanced stage of the season with both clubs languishing in the bottom half of the table.

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Age Postecoglou’s side have endured a torrid season[/caption]

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Ruben Amorim has so far failed to make a positive impact at Man Utd[/caption]

Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur, anyone? Or glory, glory, Man Utd for that matter?

Not when the two clubs contesting this underachievers derby head into the weekend in 13th and 14th positions. And by kick-off at 4.30pm on Sunday, that could even read 15th against 16th.

If Sky are billing this as Super Sunday, they will be doing so with tongue firmly in cheek. And neutrals tuning in will feel like rubber-neckers at a car-crash site.

Not since both clubs were relegated from the top flight in the 1970s have either experienced quite such a dire campaign.

In the Big Six era, we have never seen the like. Only Chelsea’s meltdown in 2015-16 compares to the season either Spurs or the Red Devils are suffering.

And this is no sudden implosion like the one which ended Jose Mourinho’s second Stamford Bridge reign. For United and Spurs, this represents a reckoning after years of flawed decision-making and chronic mismanagement.

Losing has become a bad habit for both, seeing them overtaken by smaller clubs such as Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton and Fulham, as well as a resurgent Nottingham Forest under former Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Ange Postecoglou’s injury-ravaged Spurs ended a horror run of one point from seven games with victory at Brentford in their last league outing.

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But they have been dumped out of both domestic cups since.

United have lost five of their last six league games at Old Trafford, and even though their away form has been better under Ruben Amorim, this has been a shocking season even by the dismal standards of the post-Ferguson era.

The similarities are glaring.

Two tactically-dogmatic managers wedded to their philosophies, intransigent in the face of defeat — Postecoglou’s compulsion for playing out from the back, Amorim’s adamance that his 3-4-3 is non-negotiable.

Two rare English overlords in the boardrooms, both giving foreign owners a good name.

Spurs fans will protest against Daniel Levy, yet his reputation for penny-pinching looks absurd when held up against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting since he became a minority owner at Old Trafford — where another raft of demoralising backroom redundancies is in the offing.

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Son Heung-min’s side have endured a difficult season[/caption]

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Bruno Fernandes has often cut a frustrated figure[/caption]

Two squads bereft of confidence, both lacking effective on-field leadership, where senior players have failed to grasp the nettle, meaning promising youngsters are unable to thrive.

Is there any way out of this death spiral for either club? And just how low could they fall?

At least the bottom four are so distant that relegation should not be a serious concern. It is easier to argue the case for a swift turnaround in fortunes at Spurs and Big Ange has been doing so in every media appearance.

Tottenham’s injury list has been extreme — losing a first-choice keeper, an entire back four and a quartet of attacking players would send most teams into a nosedive.

Not that this excuses home defeats by Ipswich and Leicester, nor the manner of their gutless capitulation at Anfield in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 win.

But United’s early struggles under Amorim are a positive for Postecoglou — proof that changing managers in mid-season doesn’t necessarily provide a bounce.

Spurs have the modern infrastructure which United crave.

Yet their magnificent stadium suggests a shiny new Wembley of the North at Old Trafford is unlikely to have any positive impact on United’s long-term playing prospects either.

The struggling North London club have also recruited promising young players in the last two windows, a path Ratcliffe intends to follow.

Everyone wants a long-term plan but in the knee-jerk ‘now culture’ of the Premier League, how soon is the future?

Tottenham have already defeated United twice this season — a 3-0 drubbing at Old Trafford and a crazy 4-3 victory in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

With some fit-again reinforcements expected, a third success over their fellow crisis club could be mood-altering.

For United, the picture is more bleak.

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Tottenham won 3-0 at Old Trafford in September[/caption]

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Spurs dumped Man Utd out of the League Cup in December[/caption]

There is no battalion ready to rise off the treatment table.

Indeed, after loaning out Marcus Rashford and Antony in January, without recruiting any replacements, there is a serious dearth of attacking players in Amorim’s squad.

The Portuguese boss must limp through to the end of the season, hoping for another miraculous Cup run like the one which gave Erik ten Hag a reprieve last year.

And then perhaps a major summer revamp — not that several similar revamps have worked at United in recent years.

Could the Europa League represent a lifeline for either club?

Earlier this season, Mourinho — who managed both — declared that the Red Devils and Tottenham were the two firm favourites to win the Europa League, due to the Premier League’s economic clout.

This ought to be true but the reality is different. No English club has won Uefa’s second-tier competition in the last five seasons, with only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United reaching the final during that time.

For now, though, we have a meeting of glum and glummer — a macabre circus, with the losers sentenced to further humiliation and ridicule.

Roll up, roll up, for the greatest sewage show on Earth.

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Tottenham and Man Utd are set for another unpredictable battle this Sunday[/caption]

The on-loan Manchester United star has done it again.

Chelsea’s potential opponents for the Conference League last-16 have become slightly clearer after the first leg of the play-off ties on Thursday night.

Enzo Maresca’s side finished top of the Conference League league phase having won all six of their matches and automatically secured their place in the knockout stage.

In December, the draw for the knockout phase play-off ties took place and Chelsea were aware that they would play either Gent, FC Copenhagen, Real Betis or FC Heidenheim in the last-16 stage.

Real Betis now have one foot in the knockout phase after their 3-0 win against Gent in the first leg of their play-off on Thursday.

Meanwhile, FC Heidenheim came from behind to secure a late 2-1 win against FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their play-off in Denmark.

The second leg of the Conference League play-off ties will take place next Thursday.

When is the Conference League draw?

The UEFA Conference League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place at 13:00 GMT on February 21.

The draw will be streamed live on UEFA’s website and on their official YouTube channel.

How does the Conference League draw work?

Four bowls are prepared for the draw and balls containing the names of each pair of seeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league rankings.

The other seven teams who have automatically secured their place in the knockout phase alongside Chelsea are: Vitoria Guimaraes (POR), Fiorentina (ITA), Rapid Vienna (AUT), Djurgarden (SWE), Lugano (SUI), Legia Warsaw (POL), Cercle Brugge (BEL).

The draw allocates the side of the bracket for the seeded teams, starting with the sides ranked 7 and 8 and finishing with the sides ranked 1 and 2 – which is Chelsea and Vitoria de Guimaraes.

One ball is taken from the bowl containing the two ranked teams and is opened. The first team drawn from this bowl is placed in their place on the silver side of the bracket. The other seeded team of the pairing is then drawn and displayed, and allocated in the corresponding reserved spot on the green side of the bracket in the graphic shown above.

When are the Conference League last-16 matches?

The first leg of the last-16 ties will be played on March 6.

The return legs will be played the following week on March 13.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

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DONALD TRUMP promised he would be the American president to end wars, not start them.

This week he vowed to end the conflict in Ukraine, starting negotiations with Vladimir Putin to bring to a halt the three long years of bloody carnage on Ukraine’s battlefields since Russia’s invasion.

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Donald Trump’s push for peace with Putin over Ukraine could embolden global aggressors[/caption]

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President Trump promised he would be the American president to end wars, not start them[/caption]

No doubt Trump, a self-styled “strong man” leader, would rather enjoy a ­comparison with Winston Churchill, whose bust sits in his Oval Office.

Unfortunately for Trump — and, indeed, the rest of the free world — he is closer to Neville Chamberlain, the British PM who proudly proclaimed in 1938 that he had secured “peace for our time” after he agreed a deal with Hitler to allow ­Germany to annex the Sudetenland, in a bid to avert a second world war.

War does pay

Today, just like Chamberlain waving that white piece of paper, the US President is actually waving the white flag of surrender.

And, far from preventing another world war, he is about to bring war that much closer.

Instead of standing up to President Putin, a murderous authoritarian dictator who invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation state and a democratic ally of the West, Trump has instead offered the hand of friendship to the Kremlin and demanded peace at almost any price.

The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced there was no realistic chance that Ukraine could regain all of the territory stolen by Russia since 2014, and no hope that Ukraine could join Nato to secure its remaining borders.

In one fell swoop, the US conceded to Putin’s two most important demands — and without getting a single thing in return.

 So much for Trump’s much proclaimed “art of the deal”!

Russian forces have smashed Ukrainian cities into rubble; tortured, raped and massacred innocent civilians, and abducted thousands of Ukrainian children across enemy lines.

 Now the message that has rung out from the White House is that war DOES indeed pay.

 Be in no doubt that message has been heard loud and clear not just in Moscow but also in Beijing, and in Tehran and Pyongyang too.

History teaches us that the likes of Hitler and Putin are NEVER satisfied with crumbs from the table. They always come back for more

Julia

The US President appears to share Chamberlain’s mistaken belief that dictators can be appeased with a little victory here, a bit of territory there (and of course that’s far easier to do when it’s not your OWN land you’re giving away).

But history teaches us that the likes of Hitler and Putin are NEVER satisfied with crumbs from the table.

 They always come back for more.

A deal may indeed be done for now but, after a few years to recruit and re-arm, the Russian forces will be back with a vengeance. And then what will we do?

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If Trump does a deal with Putin – with or without President Zelensky’s agreement – then he will send a message to the world that the West is no longer up for the fight[/caption]

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Trump’s approach to Ukraine mirrors Neville Chamberlain’s failed peace deal with Hitler in 1938[/caption]

The Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, knows all of this. As does every leader of every European nation with the misfortune to share a border with Russia.

For three exhausting years, the West has given Ukraine just enough military aid to save them from defeat at Russia’s hands while never giving quite enough to enable them to win.

 The vast majority of that aid has come from America, while the UK and the EU twiddle their thumbs over whether or not to beef up their own defences, unable and unwilling to defend Ukraine on their own.

Step closer to WW3

If Trump does a deal with Putin — with or without Zelensky’s agreement — then he will send a message to the world that the West is no longer up for the fight.

With just one phone call to the Kremlin, Donald Trump has single-handedly brought World War Three one step closer

Julia

 We are not willing to spend our billions, let alone spill any blood, to defend our democratic allies or to stand up for the rule of law.

 It will be open season for the globe’s many aggressors to act with impunity.

The world has been growing more dangerous by the day and eventually, despite our leaders’ best efforts to keep their heads in the sand, it will be impossible for the West to ignore the growing threat.

With just one phone call to the Kremlin, Donald Trump has single-handedly brought World War Three one step closer.

Economical with the truth

OH dear. Rachel From Accounts has been caught out for telling yet another porky pie on her CV.

Not only did Rachel Reeves NOT work as an ­economist at Halifax Bank of Scotland as she’d claimed, but she also didn’t work at the Bank of England for anywhere close to the full decade she has publicly stated.

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A spokesman for Reeves ­confirmed that dates on her LinkedIn were inaccurate and claimed it was due to an admin error by her team. Now there are even questions over some ­interesting expense claims she made too.

 We need a Chancellor we can trust to run the economy, not one who is economical with the truth.

Julia

No one minds a bit of embellishment here or there on a CV, but Hans Christian Andersen would be proud to have written the fairytale that is Reeves’s CV.

 Keir Starmer went on the ­campaign trail lauding his ­Chancellor-to-be because of her experience as an economist.

 Did he know it was mostly smoke and mirrors – or was he fooled too?

The latest GDP figures show the economy is flatlining while the only thing that is growing is the length of the Chancellor’s nose as her CV falls apart.

Anyone else caught making false claims on their CV would be sacked. Why should Reeves be any ­different?

 We need a Chancellor we can trust to run the economy, not one who is economical with the truth.

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Britain’s asylum policy is in chaos, with bizarre cases making it appear immigrants’ family rights outweigh national security and public safety[/caption]

ANOTHER day, another mind-blowing story about Britain’s insane migrant and asylum policy.

Each tale is bizarre in its own way, whether it’s a Pakistani paedophile who can’t be deported because it would be too harsh on his own kids; an Albanian criminal who can’t be sent home in part because his son won’t eat foreign chicken nuggets; a Nigerian woman rejected eight times who finally got asylum after she joined a terrorist organisation, or the family in Gaza who won the right to come to Britain under the Ukraine Family Scheme (you’d have thought there was a clue in the name but apparently not).

Yet each story comes down to the same thing: hand-wringing judges often ruling that immigrants have a right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is, of course, utter tosh because Article 8 clearly states numerous exceptions to that right if they are in the interests of national security, public safety, the economy, the prevention of disorder or crime and the rights of others.

Those “others” are us, the British people.

 So when are judges going to put OUR rights first?

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