Luke Littler has never lost a match at the Grand Slam of Darts. It was the first PDC ranking major that he won all the way back in 2024 when he battered Martin Lukeman in the final. He defended his title last year against Luke Humphries and will be motivated to make it a hat-trick of titles. He has to get out a very tricky group with Beau Greaves and Niels Zonneveld looking to upset the world number one. However, Laura Turner and Chris Murphy have shut down any concerns.

These may have cropped up after his recent form on the big stage. A quarter-final loss at the World Series of Darts Finals against Jonny Clayton was his first major loss of the year.

Luke Woodhouse dumped him out of the first round of the World Grand Prix in a stunning defeat before Krzysztof Ratajki halted Littler's European Championship ambitions, with the only major tournament he has never won still proving elusive.

Littler's group labelled 'eye-catching'

Turner pinpointed this group as one of the most intriguing. "It's definitely eye-catching, absolutely. I think there are some really tough groups in there, especially when only three players go through," she said on the Love the Darts podcast.

She highlighted Littler's lack of darts played this year compared to others. Just three European Tour and two Players Championship events he was involved in, meaning that matchups against Greaves have dried up.

In those European Tour events, he won the title in Poland and Czech Republic, but came unstuck against a certain Zonneveld in Belgium. It was the first PDC ranking match Littler lost in 2026, and the only one until he appeared on the floor.

Luke Littler is the defending champion at the Grand Slam of Darts

"This is an interesting one for me because Luke Littler hasn't played too much on the European Tour or ProTour, so they haven't come up against each other that often. But Luke lost to Neils Zonneveld the one time they played this year. And the last time Luke played Beau Greaves, he lost in the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship."

It is not a straightforward group for the two-time world champion, despite his calibre on the oche."So I know everyone's saying, 'Luke, world number one.' We know how good he is, and if he gets through that group, nobody will be surprised. But I think there are two really challenging players in there for him."

"I think he'll be all right"

Murphy was not concerned about Littler's prosepcts of reaching the knockout stage. "I think he'll be all right. I think it's the toughest group if you're Neils Zonneveld, or maybe even Beau Greaves," he admitted.

"But I think Luke, playing a couple of games, can survive even if he loses one. I don't think he'll lose one heavily, so I think he'll be all right and get through that group."

He has shut down the debacle over his recent drop-off in form. "I think his so-called dip has been a little overstated. I don't think it's anything like a crisis. It's not a huge drop-off in form. He lost the Littler event, which we'll talk about later, but he'd won 14 matches before that. So, yeah, I think Littler will be fine."

Turner concluded, "A dip for Luke is defined by him simply not winning a title, isn't it?" That is just where Littler is in the current landscape of darts. Three major events without success. He will be determined to turn that around in Wolverhampton.