Masters Snooker: Murphy to keep dream alive at Allen’s expense
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With a place in the Masters final the prize at stake, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen face off for the ninth time in their careers.
After a strong run of recommended bets for the Alexandra Palace action, here are the wagers to make for the semi-final clash live on BBC Two at 19:00.
Murphy to beat Allen @ 8/13
Much has been made about Murphy’s burning desire to complete snooker’s Triple Crown by lifting the Masters trophy and he won’t get many better opportunities.
The Magician has cast a spell over the Pistol since dumping him out of the China Open in their first meeting back in 2008, going on to defeat the Northern Irishman another six times and losing only once.
The last of those victories came in a ranking event semi-final too, when Murphy ran out a 6-4 winner at the World Open back in March 2014.
Allen was woeful against Joe Perry in the quarters but somehow scraped through.
In a turgid affair the Pistol was missing straightforward pots for fun and only made one break over 50 in the whole match while Murphy was far more fluent when sending Stephen Maguire tumbling, helping himself to a pair of centuries in the process.
Allen to win the first frame @ 1/1
This bet makes sense given Murphy is yet to score a single point from his two other opening frames at the tournament.
Over 9.5 frames in the match @ 10/11
Although Murphy seems to have Allen’s number, he has rarely stuffed him, not winning by more than a two-frame margin in the last five encounters.
What is more, all four matches featuring these players at this year’s Masters would have delivered on this wager.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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