Premier League Darts 2025: Michael van Gerwen Hits Back at Colin Lloyd's Claim His 'Race Is Run'

Michael van Gerwen has issued a fiery response to his critics as he faces a make-or-break clash with Nathan Aspinall on the final night of the 2025 Premier League of darts’ league phase.

With a place at finals night at London’s O2 still up for grabs, van Gerwen must win all three matches in Sheffield to stand any chance of qualification – a daunting prospect given he’s still without a single nightly win.

Aspinall, who stormed to victory in Aberdeen last week, sits four points clear of the Dutchman and needs just one win — against van Gerwen himself in the quarter-finals — to book his ticket to the capital.

Title Draught Raises Alarm Bells

The high-stakes showdown in the Steel City comes at a time when van Gerwen’s form is under intense scrutiny. The three-time world champion hasn’t lifted a PDC-ranked televised title in over two years, a drought few would have predicted during his era of dominance.

His last World Championship triumph came in 2019, and if he fails to reach the playoffs this week, it would mark just the second time in his career he’s missed out.

Colin Lloyd’s Brutal Assessment 

The dip in form has prompted former world number one Colin Lloyd to deliver a brutal assessment of van Gerwen’s standing in the sport.

"I think his race is run. With what he's achieved in the game, is he that motivated anymore?" said Lloyd, speaking to TalkSport.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to say we haven't seen Michael turn up for a while now. We've seen flashes of brilliance. Has it slipped into his head he has other priorities?”

Has that little bit of spark gone from Michael's game? You don't turn up to make the numbers up, you turn up to win."

Van Gerwen Fires Back

But van Gerwen, never one to shy away from confrontation, has hit back – drawing a comparison to his own meteoric rise when he dethroned Phil Taylor at the top of the sport.

“When I was first coming up and knocked Phil Taylor, I was number one in the sport, and he was number two or three, they wouldn’t say he had all these bad patches. People wouldn’t say that about him,” the Dutchman told SportsBoom.co.uk. 

“Of course, the sport never stands still for anyone, whoever you are, not Phil Taylor, not me.”

Far from doubting himself, van Gerwen insists his hunger to succeed is stronger than ever.

“You need to make sure you keep performing and we all know that. I’m still young. I’m only 36 years old and I still have a long career ahead of me.”

“I want to win more and more and more. It’s like a habit.”

And in a pointed dig at Lloyd, van Gerwen dismissed the criticism from someone he feels hasn’t achieved enough to pass judgement.

“People that never won anything, they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’ve not been in my position in the game.”

“I still love what I do, otherwise I wouldn’t be in it.”

With all eyes on Sheffield this Thursday, van Gerwen will need to summon every ounce of his old brilliance if he’s to keep his Premier League hopes alive — and prove his doubters wrong on the big stage once again.