Wayne Mardle is backing Luke Humphries to successfully defend his Premier League Darts title, saying the world No 2 is "the man to beat" after a major upturn in form.
Humphries - an 11-8 winner over Luke Littler in last year's showpiece - spent much of this campaign outside the play-off spots but then reached the final across the last four weeks of the regular season, winning the penultimate evening in Birmingham.
'Cool Hand' sealed third spot in the standings during his run to the Night 16 final in Sheffield, which means he will now avoid table topper Littler in next week's semis at London's O2 Arena.
Instead, Humphries will play second-placed Jonny Clayton, with Littler taking on the only man in the play-offs yet to win the Premier League title, in Gerwyn Price.
Humphries was beaten by Stephen Bunting in the Sheffield final but trounced Littler 6-1 in the semis, reeling off six straight legs against 'The Nuke' for the second week in a row.
Your Site pundit Mardle said ahead of finals night: "I do not have a clue [who will win] but I will go with Humphries on recency bias.
"I love the way he is going about his business and he was good in defeat [in Sheffield]. There was a bit of head shaking but he was good.
"The way Luke has dealt with the last four weeks has been incredible. It would have been easy to fold but he has shown he is an absolute champion."
Mardle had earlier praised Humphries' treble hitting after he ended Littler's hopes of a record seventh nightly triumph in a single season, saying: "In my opinion, he is one of the best scorers on the planet and one of the best I have seen in a while.
"When he gets it right, his two and three-treble visits are better than anyone's - and I include Littler in that. He can fit a dart in there when it has no right to go in.
"Tons alone are not the way forward anymore. With Humphries' trebles, he gives himself so many looks at a double."
However, Mardle added that Clayton, champion in 2021, could "run riot" in the capital, having picked up four nightly wins en route to a second-placed finish in his first Premier League campaign since 2023.
Mardle said: "Clayton is going under the radar. It's been 'oh, Humphries and Price will want to play him instead of Luke Littler'.
"But Clayton could run riot next week as he has run riot so many times this year. If he does it again on another Thursday, he wins it.
"Clayton was the outsider of the field, meant to finish bottom.
"He will be the outsider next week but he will have his tail up and won't want to be written off. He won't be written off as he is that good.
"Clayton was the man this season, then Littler was the man, now Humphries is the man, the one playing so well, the man to beat."
Watch the Premier League Darts finals live on Your Site Action and Your Site Main Event from 7pm on Thursday.
