After winning his maiden world title, Littler got knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Darts Masters - a tournament Michael van Gerwen decided not to attend - and found himself in the position to face Van Gerwen in the same stage of the Dutch Darts Masters after Thursday's draw.
A 6-4 comeback win against Van den Bergh made the matchup happen van Van Gerwen confidently beat fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 just one match prior.
Littler enjoyed the best start of the two giants after winning the first three legs with relative ease, finishing from 40, 20, and 26 on his way to a commanding 3-0 lead.
But the Green Machine hit back with finishes from 61, 40, and 91 to draw level and give the home crowd something to cheer for.
It didn't take long for the Nuke to repeat Friday's trick and find another gear yet again, winning the last three legs on the spin and beathing his opponent numb for the second match in a row.
Littler finished the game with 7 180s, but a checkout percentage of just 26.09 percent with 6 of 23 attempts hitting their target. With neither player reaching an average of 95 - Littler hit 94.85, Van Gerwen 90.26 - the match lacked the quality of last year's final when both players averaged over a ton.