Defending champion Van Gerwen was below par despite his win in Glasgow last week but he was close to his scintillating best on Thursday evening.

He averaged 107.27 against Price and secured a 6-4 victory despite only taking six of his 18 doubles.

His semi-final with Littler was the fourth time the pair have met since the English teenager’s rise to prominence, and the Dutchman has now won three of those matches.

He missed six match darts, allowing Littler to force a decider, but broke the 17-year-old to progress to the final.

Van Gerwen then had to recover from an early break by Aspinall but won five legs on the spin to open up a commanding lead.

Aspinall, who won the event in 2020, took out 170 to get the game back on throw but Van Gerwen broke again to seal the win.

Aspinall’s two match victories leaves Scotland’s Peter Wright as the only player yet to register a win this season, although he was much improved in his 6-5 defeat by Littler.

Wright averaged 103.37 but missed match darts to claim that elusive win.

Night five of the Premier League will take place in Exeter on Thursday, 29 February.