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Luke Littler ‘not under any pressure’ despite disappointing Premier League start

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Luke Littler is not feeling any pressure after losing his opening match in the Premier League last week.

The 19-year-old was beaten on night one in Newcastle by Gian van Veen, who gained some revenge for his heavy World Championship final defeat in January.

Things do not get much easier for Littler in Antwerp on Thursday as he faces Luke Humphries in the opening match.

The pair have embarked on a great rivalry in the last two years and faced each other nine times in last season’s tournament alone.

Littler most recently beat Humphries in the World Masters final at the start of the month, where his opponent called him “the greatest dart player to ever live”.

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Littler was due to speak to the media on Wednesday afternoon but the press conference was cancelled at short notice, without reason.

However, in a short interview with Sky Sports, he said: “Every stage is different in my opinion.

“I’m not under any pressure and I don’t need to put pressure on myself.

“I know I lost to Gian on night one, but last year I lost to Michael van Gerwen as well.

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“There’s still 15 weeks left, so as long as I get into the top four, that’s all that matters.”

Van Veen believes ending his Littler hoodoo last week will set him up for a successful campaign.

The Dutchman was soundly beaten in the final at Alexandra Palace in January and then went down to him in the Saudi Arabia Masters later in the month.

But he defeated Littler in his Premier League debut before going on to lose the final against Van Gerwen.

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Van Veen said: “I think the most important part is to win your first game, especially playing in this for the first time.

“It’s something you don’t want to do, spend three, four weeks not winning any games, and then it starts getting to you.

“So I think that was the most important part. But also to get one over Littler.

“I said it last week as well. Luke Littler is not someone you want to lose five or six matches in a row against, because then next time he will be 2-0 up against you already.

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“So you need to bite back at him a couple of times. That’s what I did last week. So I think that’s going to help my campaign for the coming weeks as well.”

Van Veen will face off against Gerwyn Price, Van Gerwen takes on Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton versus Stephen Bunting completes the quarter-final line-up.

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Sports

Elche vs Osasuna Prediction and Betting Tips

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11 February 2026

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Elche will host Osasuna at the Estadio Martinez Valero on Friday in another round of the 2025-26 La Liga campaign. After winning four of their final five games of 2025, the home side have failed to come alive in the new year and have plummeted down to 15th place in the league table, only two points above the drop zone.

Facing off against a resurgent Real Sociedad outfit last time out, Elche entered the contest as underdogs and predictably faltered, slumping to a 3-1 defeat. However, head coach Eder Sarabia would have been proud of the effort his side put in at the Reale Arena, as they dominated possession in both halves and created a couple of good chances. They will hope results favor them this time around.

Osasuna, meanwhile, are enjoying a fine run of results in the league at the moment as they look to make up for their slow start to the season. Like their weekend opponents, Gorritxoak were also on the road last weekend, traveling to the Balaídos to take on Celta Vigo, who they beat 2-1 thanks to goals from Ante Budimir and Raul Garcia de Haro.

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The visitors now sit ninth in the table and will be looking to keep their foot on the gas to avoid slipping back into the bottom half.

Elche vs Osasuna Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

  • Friday’s game will mark the 39th meeting between the two teams. In a historically closely contested fixture, Elche have won 11 of their previous encounters, while Osasuna have won three more.
  • There have been 13 draws between the two teams, including four of their last five matchups.
  • Elche hold the third-worst defensive record in La Liga this season, having conceded 35 goals in 23 games.
  • Osasuna are the only side in the Spanish top flight this season to have scored as many goals (28) as they have conceded.

Elche vs Osasuna Prediction

Having lost five of their last seven matches, Los Franjiverdes are slight underdogs heading into the weekend clash but will hope to draw some inspiration from their home advantage.

Gorritxoak, meanwhile, have collected three wins and a draw from their last four games after winning just two of their previous six. They have picked up impressive wins in their last two away league games and should extend that streak on Friday.

Prediction: Elche 1-2 Osasuna

Elche vs Osasuna Betting Tips

Tip 1 – Result: Osasuna to win

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Tip 2 – Goals – Over/under 2.5 – Over 2.5 goals (Each of the hosts’ last seven matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)

Tip 3 – Both teams to score: YES