All eyes will be on Luke Littler and Stephen Bunting when the duo meet in Exeter in tonight’s Premier League clash.
And it’ll be fascinating to see how both men behave at the oche given the controversy over their meeting at the World Darts Championship last month.
Littler beat Bunting on his way to winning the title, where he defeated Michael van Gerwen in the final at Alexandra Palace.
However, the match became somewhat controversial due to the sheer amount of respect both players showed towards each other.
All eyes will be on Luke Littler and Stephen Bunting when the duo meet in Exeter in tonight’s Premier League clash
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Littler and Bunting were regularly seen fist-bumping each other, while they also shared a big embrace at the end of the clash.
Darts star Dave Chisnall, however, was far from impressed.
Writing for Kwiff, he said: “The one big disappointment of the semi-finals was my pal Stephen Bunting.
“He was phenomenal in the first set, but will have been gutted to lose it 3-2, despite the high averages.
“I’m not one for gamesmanship and you won’t hear me slagging folk off, but I did think the fist bumps after every set was a bit weird.
“It was noticeable that Michael was having none of it in the final!
“He looked to be getting back to his best during the Worlds, which will be a worry for most of us other lads on tour.
“He missed too many doubles in the final, but he’ll be back. There aren’t too many folk three-time World Champion in their 30s.”
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Stephen Bunting was accused of ‘weird’ behaviour towards Luke Littler
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Bunting, however, was unhappy with those remarks.
The 39-year-old admitted that the comments ‘annoyed him’ – and also insisted he wouldn’t be changing.
“It does annoy me a bit that people pick up upon that sort of thing,” he said.
“That shows how well I’m playing, that they have got to pick up on a fist bump rather than a bad performance.
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“Luke is a lad who has the world at his feet and he is still learning the game. I’m very respectful for what he is doing for our game.
“I hope he continues for a lot of years because he is bringing in a lot more money to our sport.
“So, yeah, I am pretty respectful and thankful that he is doing that. On another side, I know him personally, I have grown up in the same area as him, known him for a lot of years since he was a little kid.
“I played Luke Humphries in Bahrain, there were a few games there, a few shots where we fist-bumped. It is not all the time. We are all friends on the tour.”
Luke Littler beat Stephen Bunting on his way to winning the World Darts Championship last month
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It’ll be interesting to see whether the pair tone down their friendship tonight.
However, given the impressive form of both men over the past few months, the clash still has the makings of a classic.