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While Littler cruised through, there was no such luck for Van Veen as he beat his idol Anderson in a remarkable match.

It began with the Scot winning the first set against the darts with a 104 average, but any thoughts that Van Veen, 23, might be overawed in his first world semi-final were quickly forgotten as he hit a 10-darter to start the second set.

A stunning average of 113.35 saw him level it at 1-1 with a 117 checkout and was a taster of what was to come in the sets that followed.

Anderson started the next with a 144 checkout but Van Veen hit back once more, hitting six perfect darts to start the deciding leg on his way to an 11-darter.

Somehow, the fifth set took the match to another level again. First, Anderson broke with a 10-darter and hit a 170 checkout to go 2-0 in legs, and a leg from making it 3-2.

Instead, Van Veen made it 4-1 after a 170 checkout of his own forced a deciding leg. He won it and averaged 111.46, while Anderson was left wondering how he had lost a set in which he averaged 117.44.

The 55-year-old’s resilience shone through, though, and with the crowd behind him, he won the next two sets to make it 4-3 and pile the pressure on his younger opponent – who had missed four darts to make it 5-2.

But while both players showed signs that the unrelenting nature of the contest was taking its toll, Van Veen held firm, got himself 5-3 up and then finished strongly with a 13-darter to clinch his place in the final.

“To be in the World Championship final is not even a dream coming true because I wasn’t able to dream about this,” Van Veen, who had not won a match at the World Championship prior to this event, told Sky Sports.

“Now it’s happened and I’m so happy.”

“It’s something we have to improve. I would say at least 75% of the time or even more, it’s not even about the first contact. It’s the second phase that is the killer.

“Is it a mental thing? I hope not. If that’s in your head then it’s an issue. Personally, it’s not in my head.”

Excluding penalties, Liverpool have only scored three goals from set-pieces in the league. Their difference of minus nine is their worst in a Premier League season.

“We have defended so many set-pieces very well. But we’ve conceded too many goals like that and it hurts. We have to improve that. Training is the only way to get better at it,” Van Dijk added.

“It’s not been good enough. We all realise that. We have spoken about it. We need to turn it around. That’s why we work on it almost every training session.”

Liverpool manager Slot said: “Unfortunately we’re maybe the only team that hardly ever scores from a set-piece and, even worse, we constantly concede.

“But then, I think I said two, three or four weeks ago, we have to make sure that when things go against us – it could be a set-piece, it could be other things – we still need to find a way to win.

“In the last two games we conceded from a set-piece but we were able to win and that hasn’t happened many times this season. That’s progress for me, but it’s obvious there are more things for us to improve and this is definitely one of them.

“I think we have been unlucky in multiple situations in our set-pieces. It is 18 games now and we need to improve.”

Liverpool’s third league win in a row took them up to fourth in the table.

Chelsea and Leeds United among clubs interested in James McAtee, Arsenal considering move for Davide Bartesaghi and Manu Kone set to move to Manchester United in the summer.

Chelsea and Leeds United are among the Premier League clubs to have checked on 23-year-old English midfielder James McAtee’s situation at Nottingham Forest. (Mail) , external

Arsenal are considering a move for AC Milan’s 19-year-old Italian left-back Davide Bartesaghi. (Caughtoffside) , external

Roma and France midfielder Manu Kone, 24, will reportedly make the move to Manchester United next summer. (Sportsmole) , external

Tottenham are willing to put Netherlands defender Micky van de Ven, 24, on the same terms as Argentina centre-back and Spurs captain Cristian Romero, 27. (Teamtalk), external

Brighton and England centre-back Lewis Dunk, 34, has committed his future to the club for at least one more season after triggering a contract extension based on appearances. (Athletic – subscription required) , external

Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee, 24, has been reassured by Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini that the Dutch striker has a place in his 3-4-2-1 formation. (Gazzetta – in Italian), external

Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Aston Villa are all chasing Bologna’s 21-year-old Argentine forward Santiago Castro. (Gazzetta dello Sport via Sport Witness) , external

Oxford United are considering giving former Chelsea defender John Terry his first job in management. (Sun), external

Manchester United considering move for James Garner, Chelsea want to offload Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi and Sandro Tonali targets for Juventus.

Manchester United are considering a surprise January move for their former England Under-21s midfielder James Garner, 24, whose contract at Everton expires next summer. (Mail, external)

Chelsea are monitoring Rennes’ French centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, 20, and Saint-Etienne‘s French forward Djylian N’Guessan, 17, but their priority is offloading players including France defender Axel Disasi, 27, and English wingers Raheem Sterling, 31, and Tyrique George, 19. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali is a target for Juventus with the 25-year-old Italy international open to a return to Serie A, while they are also interested in Tottenham and Romania defender Radu Dragusin, who is also wanted by Roma. (La Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian, external)

Fulham and Crystal Palace are keeping tabs on Manchester City‘s Oscar Bobb, 22, if the club allow him to leave in January – but clubs outside England, including Sevilla, are also interested in the Norway midfielder. (Talksport, external)

Sporting have overtaken Portuguese rivals Porto in the race for West Ham winger Luis Guilherme, and are close to agreeing a deal for the permanent transfer of the 19-year-old Brazilian. (ESPN Brazil – in Portuguese, external)

Tottenham want to tie 24-year-old Netherlands defender Micky van de Ven to a new, improved long-term deal. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Liverpool might explore a six-month loan move for Paris St-Germain and Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos, 24, as a short-term solution for the absence of injured Sweden forward Alexander Isak, 26. (Caught Offside, external)

Wolves are eyeing a deal for former Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest player Sam Surridge, the 27-year-old English striker who scored 24 goals for Nashville during the 2025 Major League Soccer (MLS) season. (Talksport, external)

Liverpool are yet to decide whether to allow 18-year-old England Under-20s midfielder Trey Nyoni to leave the club during the January transfer window, but are holding talks with Premier League and Championship clubs. (Teamtalk, external)

Sevilla, Real Oviedo and former club Getafe are interested in bringing back 28-year-old Bournemouth and Turkey forward Enes Unal to Spain. (Fichajes – in Spanish, external)

Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen says Peter Wright should retire following his emphatic defeat in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship.

Two-time world champion Wright won just two legs and averaged below 80 as he was surprisingly beaten by debutant Arno Merk on Tuesday.

Van Gerwen said he was “not surprised by his performance” given the Scotsman’s inconsistent recent record and added that “it’s time for him to retire anyway”.

The 36-year-old Dutchman beat William O’Connor to reach the third round at Alexandra Palace.

Wright, who became world champion in 2020 and 2022, has not made it past the quarter-finals of any televised ranking tournament in the past two years.

The 55-year-old last won a European Tour event in 2024 and a Players Championship in 2022.

Wright was not selected for the 2025 Premier League Darts season and failed to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time since 2012.

The Dutchman’s comments follow Wright’s recent suggestion that Van Gerwen’s “vision is probably going”., external

Englishman James Wade began his PDC World Darts Championship campaign with a 3-0 triumph over Ryusei Azemoto, while Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock first-round exit.

Five-time world champion Van Barneveld looked out of sorts as he went down in straight sets to Stefan Bellmont, the first Swiss winner at Alexandra Palace.

Seventh seed Wade only let one leg slip in a dominant victory against Japan’s Azemoto.

“Tonight showed the practice I’ve been doing. It wasn’t spectacular but when I really needed to hit something, it happened,” said four-time semi-finalist Wade.

He finished with an average of 94.75, compared to Azemoto’s 84.42, and the 42-year-old will take on Ricky Evans in the second round on Monday.

Van Barneveld looked a shadow of the player who won four BDO world titles before lifting the PDC crown in 2007.

The 58-year-old Dutchman took the opening leg but then lost eight in succession.

Despite a higher average than his opponent, he checked out just 25% of his doubles while Bellmont hit 39%.

American debutant Adam Sevada came out on top in the the first game on Wednesday, seeing off Canadian Matt Campbell 3-1.

It was tight for much of their encounter but Sevada’s marginally better performance on doubles made the difference as he won 11 legs to Campbell’s six.