Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall – World Darts Championship: Live score and leg-by-leg updates as the Nuke sets his sights on first world title plus Peter Wright vs Stephen Bunting

Fans are arriving in their droves ahead of tonight and, as per, almost all of them are in fancy dress. I went early on in the tournament in normal clothes and genuinely felt out of place.

The atmosphere, as it was this afternoon, will be electric, with the session sold out for what is widely-regarded as the most exciting day in the darts calendar.

Humprhies is, of course, out. Spoiling the party, somewhat, with it expected that he would face Littler in tomorrow’s semis. That now won’t be the case.

Cool Hand has, however, given his verdict on who he wants to win the Worlds now he can’t. Spoiler: it’s not Littler.

Click below or here to find out who he’s backing.

It’s been quite the journey already for Littler, who was of course the runner-up last year on debut.

He had to wait a fair amount of time for his first game, but averaged over 100 to beat Ryan Meikle in his first match, which he criticised. He then burst into tears after.After that, veteran Ian White tested him, missing set darts that he lost, but Littler prevailed.

That was before one of the games of the tournament so far, when he beat Ryan Joyce 4-3 two days ago.Joyce, as he often does, put on a finishing clinic, penning 48.15 per cent of his checkouts to push the teenager all the way, but the Nuke averaged over 103 to hold his nerve and survive.

Tonight should be an cracker against one of his closest friends in the game.

We’ll look at Aspinall next, the man with the best walkout in the sport.

He was the somewhat villain of the piece when he knocked out Leonard Gates in round two, before thrashing what was, in all honesty, a poor Andrew Gilding in round three.

It was then an even worse Ricardo Pietreczko in round four, who the Asp described as an ‘odd’ character before the bout. The German didn’t lay a glove on him – averaging a measly 78.46. 4-0.Yet to be tested? Or going about his work?

We will see tonight, because you can bet he will be tested against Luke Littler.

The Liverpudlian, after receiving a bye as a seed in the first round, would take on Germany’s Kai Gotthardt in round two. He wasn’t at his best, but didn’t need to be, as he emerged the 3-1 victor.

It was world No 44 Madars Razma in the next round, and we did then see the best of Bunting, who averaged over 100 to hardly give the Latvian a sniff.

And last time out, he shone on the doubles, pinning more than 40 per cent as he decimated fellow Brit Luke Woodhouse, who had looked good up until that point.

A win here could set up a last-four clash with Luke Littler – and would almost certainly secure his spot in the Premier League.

Let’s have a look at how the two from tonight’s first game got to the last eight, then.

Peter Wright has been in awful form this year. But the two-time champ has, somehow, found his best again when almost everyone had written him off.

He got the better of Wesley Plaisier in round two, entering as the 17th seed. After that, he faced the tough task of Jermaine Wattimena, who had been backed by many to be the surprise package. But, averaging 96, he breezed past the Dutchman and set up a last-16 tie with defending champion Luke Humphries.

Surely that would be a step too far? Oh no. Averaging nearly 101, he blitzed Humphries 4-1, despite the Englishman averaging over 99 himself and putting in a performance that probably would have beaten 99 per cent of players.

Now it’s Bunting. You’d be brave to bet against him emerging victorious again – especially if he plays the way he did the other night.

What a couple of crackers we had earlier today. First, Chris Dobey booked his place in the last four for the first time after overcoming former champion Gerwyn Price, whose finishing was all over the place. He beat himself more than anything else.

Then, Callan Rydz pushed three-time champion Michael van Gerwen all the way, but the Green Machine did what we does best and came out the winner by five sets to three. Silly darts.

Can this evening live up to it? There’s no reason to believe not.

We have Peter Wright vs Stephen Bunting up first, followed by Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall.

He is indeed. Welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the second set of quarter-finals from Ally Pally tonight – we have two games for you.

One of them will, indeed, be Luke Littler. The tournament favourite will take on Nathan Aspinall in the last eight after just about overcoming Ryan Joyce on Monday, with the Asp quietly going about his business too.

First up, though, it’s Peter Wright, who put out defending champion Luke Humphries last time out, versus the people’s champion Stephen Bunting.