Champion of Champions: snooker betting preview, free tips & where to watch

Where to watch

Live on ITV4, 12.45pm Monday

Best bets

Shaun Murphy
1pt 11-1 Betfred
Mark Allen
0.5pts each-way 11-1 Betfred

Tournament preview

The Champion of Champions returns to the Ricoh Arena with 16 tournament winners competing for the title in Coventry.

There is a slight change to the qualifying criteria this year as 2019 women's world champion Reanne Evans and World Seniors Championship winner Jimmy White have been added to a high-class field.

Ronnie O'Sullivan heads the betting at 9-4 and the Rocket is just 1-25 to get past White in his opening group contest. However, a win for O'Sullivan would set up a clash with either John Higgins or Stuart Bingham and that looks a major hindrance to the number-one seed's chances of retaining his title.

Judd Trump, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are next in the betting but there doesn't seem to be much juice in the prices on offer about that trio.

Two players who do look overpriced at 11-1 are Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen. Murphy has has roared back to form and made the finals of the International Championship and Shanghai Masters before claiming the China Championship in September.

Perhaps Murphy's early exit to Graeme Dott in the World Open means he is slipping under bookmakers' radars this week and he looks a value play.

Allen has been solid enough this season without any eye-catching tournament victories but runs to the semi-finals of the English Open and International Championship suggest the Pistol's game is in decent nick.

Allen kicks off against Matt Selt and would face either Selby or Yan Bingtao in the group-stage final. Those opponents are respected but Bingtao has struggled for form since his win in Riga and Selby doesn't seem to be fully back to his best.

The Antrim Ace can be fancied to progress from his group and he looks decent each-way value.

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