Keith Deller has urged Luke Littler to shrug off claims he’s arrogant – and backed him to win another World Title.
Deller, who won the title himself in 1983, believes much of the recent criticism thrown the teenager’s way is due to the ‘jealousy’.
Ricardo Pietreczko recently made headlines after doubling down on his ‘arrogant’ description of the Englishman.
While others like Luke Humphries and Nathan Aspinall have kept it friendly despite rivalries, the German has clearly found an issue with Littler following their matchups.
Deller, however, urged Littler to ignore it.
He said: “Pietreczko saying he’s arrogant is nothing new. Eric Bristow was called arrogant in our day, and he won more major titles than anyone.
“I don’t see a problem if people think you’re arrogant. If you say you’re going to win, some will say, ‘He’s arrogant’. No, that’s confidence.
“Pietreczko’s a good darts player, but will he win any majors? I don’t think he will. I think there’s a lot of jealousy, because Luke Littler is just different class to what he is.
“I don’t mind arrogance in sport. You’ve got to be that way. You can look at any sport, golf, football, it’s no different. As long as you back it up, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Littler emerged victorious in his first PDC World Championship 2025 match against Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas. And, as defending champion, Deller has backed the 18-year-old to retain his title.
Deller, now a leading after dinner speaker, told Champions Speakers in an interview: “Littler had the perfect start to his defence. Labanauskas played really well, averaging high around the 90 average. Luke just looked like he has all. Year, in control of his game and looks good for defending his title.
“Coming in as world number one and defending champion, he just takes it as it comes. He doesn’t practice too much, turns up about an hour and a half before he’s due on, and he’s a very laid-back lad.
“He shows a bit of attitude, and you’ve got to be like that if you’re going to be a champion. He knows he’s young and that if he keeps playing like he is, there’ll be more world titles. He’s very confident, but he’s going about it the right way.”
He continued: “I don’t think anyone will really push him until the last eight, so I think he’s got a fairly good draw. As the sets go up each round after the first two, it plays into his hands.
“As an outsider, I think Josh Rock is playing well, but he still hasn’t won a TV tournament, so the jury’s still out a little bit there.
“Nathan Aspinall is playing great, and I think Michael van Gerwen, although we’re calling him an ‘outsider’ in terms of the betting, will probably still be around 6/1. You’ve always got to look at Michael.
“I don’t see many players coming out of the pack. The World Championship is a different mentality to other tournaments, it’s a £1 million first prize. And you’ve also got to remember that a good run there massively helps your ranking. If you have a bad one, you start to drop.
“Take Rob Cross, for example. He’s not playing great. If he goes out early, next year is a really tough year, and he could be in trouble trying to get back into it. You’ve got to be high enough up the rankings to get that World Championship invite.”
