Luke Littler took the time to poke fun at Liverpool’s misfortunes just half an hour before facing Michael van Gerwen in Thursday night’s Premier League Darts final.
The avowed Manchester United fan was looking to make it a hat-trick of wins after claiming his first victory two weeks ago in Belfast.
Last week, Littler overcame Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals before dispatching close friend Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals at Manchester’s AO Arena, winning his second straight night in a stunning final against Gerwyn Price.
But it didn’t take long for the football fan to reflect on his second victory, saying in his interview afterwards that he was delighted to have achieved victory as he had just “watched Man United concede two in two minutes (against Chelsea).”
Littler, once again keeping his eye on the night’s match action as he competed, couldn’t resist a direct swipe at his team’s hated rivals on social media minutes before heading into the oche.
Luke Littler mocked Liverpool’s Europa League woes ahead of their Premier League darts final
Jurgen Klopp’s side capitulated at Anfield and their European hopes suffered a blow at the hands of Serie A side Atalanta.
The Manchester United stalwart was quick to take advantage of his rivals’ misery and scored the final score minutes into their Premier League Darts semi-final.
“OMG (monkey emoji covering eyes),” Littler captioned a graphic of the 3-0 scoreline in the Reds’ Europa League clash against Serie A side Atalanta.
The darts prodigy had moments earlier recorded a 6-5 semi-final victory against world number one Luke Humphries.
Liverpool’s Anfield may have put a smile on several Manchester United-supporting faces, with Jurgen Klopp’s side collapsing spectacularly at home.
Just one matchday after the team’s Premier League title hopes were dented by Erik ten Hag’s players in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, Liverpool had a dismal home performance as they were exposed by Atalanta’s hungry and energetic game.
Goals from former West Ham outcast Gianluca Scamacca and a late third from Mario Pasalic have given the Europa League hopefuls all they have to do on their return trip to Bergamo next week.
However, Littler’s social media boast may have been a little premature, with the 17-year-old losing his third Birmingham final to Van Gerwen.
Last weekend, the darts prodigy’s team had put a dent in Liverpool’s title hopes with a 2-2 draw.
Littler missed out on personal success on Thursday night: Michael van Gerwen (right) took the honors in Birmingham.
Premier League newcomers Darts had previously won the last two nights in Belfast and Manchester (pictured)
The teenage sensation broke the shot twice in the early stages of the contest, but with neither player scoring big, defending Premier League champions Darts fought back to claim the 6-3 victory.
Despite failing to achieve a quick trio of wins, Littler remains top of the table with 26 points, two points ahead of his World Championship rival Humphries.
The debutant appears confident of reaching the play-offs at London’s O2 Arena with just five match nights left to complete.