Gerwyn Price let Littler know what he thinks of him before teen made 'mistake' comment

Gerwyn Price once voiced his huge respect for by saying the darting prodigy has done "wonders for the sport". But those niceties have momentarily been put to one side as the in Thursday's semi-final at Finals night.

Since his emergence at Alexandra Palace in 2023, Littler has dismantled numerous legends on his way to being crowned world champion in January this year. One player who still gets the better of the 18-year-old more than most, however, is Price. The Welshman boasts a 7-6 record over Littler, although the latter recently ended a six-match streak of losses against Price and won their last two contests. Speaking ahead of their clash at London's O2 arena, The Iceman claimed his mentality gives him an edge over the young phenom.

Price told : "I'm thinking I'm going to win. Obviously I'm playing really well. I've got a good record over young Luke and he'll be thinking about it more than I will. I don't really care who I play. The only thing leading up to it is how I'm going to play and I can usually tell three hours before the game when I'm practising whether I'm on it or not."

Despite his tender age, Littler looked to play mind games of his own last week by taunting his rival ahead of their upcoming meeting. The reigning Premier League champion secured first place in the standings and his sixth win this season by overcoming Luke Humphries 6-3 in last week's final in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, Price started the night in third place but was leapfrogged by Aspinall after 6-2 against , before losing 6-4 to Littler. That proved enough to overtake The Iceman after he fell at the first hurdle to Chris Dobey.

The 6-2 defeat means Price will now have to beat the world No.2 in London to get a shot at a first crown. Speaking afterwards, Littler taunted Price by implying he'd made a telling error: "Gezzy tonight, if he won, he would have jumped to third," he said in his press conference. "Is that a mistake? Because I'm certainly ready for next week."

Although their recent comments indicate a competitive rivalry, there is a clear underlying respect between two of darts' biggest names. In March, Price waxed lyrical about Littler despite beating him on Night Six of the Premier League in Nottingham. He aired his belief that Littler still has gears he has not reached yet, meaning he will soon be unstoppable for the legends already playing the sport.

"I wanted to get another win over Luke just to keep on top. He's one of the best in the world and he's going to be for the next few years. He's going to get better and better," Price said on . "Only the younger generations can stop him, we can't stop him.

"Littler has done wonders for the sport. We all need to start winning now because in the next few years he is going to be unbeatable."

Littler himself opened up about his feelings towards Price ahead of their Night Ten quarter-final meeting in Manchester in April, where he would emerge victorious despite Price hitting a nine-darter. He said: "I wouldn't say I'm motivated to beat him, obviously I want to try and beat him, but I won't go on stage saying to myself, 'you need to win this, you need to win this.'

"I'll just go up on stage with the same mindset of winning that first game and getting two points on the board. I know he's obviously got the record and he knows how to beat me but hopefully I can try and get that win over him."

Littler remains the odds-on favourite to win the title this year. The second semi at The 02 is between and Nathan Aspinall.