Michael van Gerwen will have a chance to avenge his loss to Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship final at the Dutch Masters on Saturday after the pair made it through their opening matches of the event.Van Gerwen missed out on a fifth world title to Littler earlier this month in a one-sided final at the Alexandra Palace.There wasn’t a long break between the final and the 2025 season getting underway in Bahrain last week.But Van Gerwen was absent from the Middle East tournament due to family commitments.Luke Littler beat Michael van Gerwen in the world championship finalGETTYHe was back in action this week for his first official tournament of the season for his home World Series event.And the 35-year-old put on a stellar display to defeat compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 and progress to the quarter-finals.Littler was last to compete on the night after seeing world No 1 Luke Humphries crash out to Jermaine Wattimena.The recently-crowned world champion was made to work against Dimitri Van den Bergh and looked at one stage at risk of following in the footsteps of Humphries.But the 18-year-old managed to step up when it mattered the most to clinch the final two legs and win 6-4.His victory sets up a repeat of the World Championship final with Littler and Van Gerwen going toe-to-toe once again.The pair met in last year’s Dutch Darts Masters final, where Van Gerwen got the better of the teenager.Their quarter-final on Saturday will be the 14th meeting between the pair with Littler only just edging the head-to-head record with seven wins to Van Gerwen’s six.Luke Littler beat Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4ReutersStephen Bunting pulled off an impressive performance to knock out Gian van Veen, who averaged an incredible 105.13 in the match.Raymond van Barneveld had the crowd in the palm of his hands as he pulled off a remarkable win over Chris Dobey.Gerwyn Price will take on Kevin Doets in the quarter-finals after they defeated Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall respectively.LATEST SPORT NEWS: Michael van Gerwen was too strong for Dirk van Duijvenbode GETTYThe final quarter-final will be between Wattimena and Rob Cross with the winner of the Dutch Darts Masters taking home £30,000 in prize money.The Premier League season gets underway at the start of next month in Belfast, with Littler and Van Gerwen once again facing off.