Friday's World Championship second-round predictions & snooker betting tips

Free snooker tips, best bets and analysis for day seven of the Betfred World Championship on Friday.

Where to watch

BBC & Eurosport, from 10am Friday

Best bets

Ronnie O'Sullivan -2.5 frames v Mark Allen 10am
1pt 8-11 bet365, Betfred

Mark Selby to beat Yan Bingtao 2.30pm
3pts 4-6 Hills

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark Allen

Head-to-head: O'Sullivan 6 v 4 Allen

Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for a seventh Betfred World Championship title continues with a second-round clash against Mark Allen and the Rocket should power into the quarter-finals.

O'Sullivan looked solid and focused in his 10-5 first-round win over dangerous qualifier Dave Gilbert, rattling in three centuries along the way.

It's worth remembering that the Rocket trailed Gilbert 3-0 in that match, so the fact he won ten frames and conceded just two from that point was a real show of dominance.

O'Sullivan isn't as consistently brilliant as he once was, but the Rocket thrives when he gets to the Crucible which is not something you can say of his opponent.

Allen is a gifted break-builder and talented performer on his day, but it's rarely the Pistol's day in the Sheffield showpiece.

The Antrim ace has made it past the second round in only one of his last eight visits to the Betfred World Championship and that has included disappointing recent defeats to qualifiers Jamie Clarke and Zhou Yuelong.

Allen did win the Northern Ireland Open on home soil earlier in the season, but that has been the highlight of a largely indifferent campaign and he may struggle to keep pace with the Rocket.

Mark Selby v Yan Bingtao

Head-to-head: Selby 3 v 4 Bingtao

It's was difficult to weigh up Mark Selby's chances coming into this year's Betfred World Championship but they have certainly warmed after an impressive 10-7 first-round win over Jamie Jones.

The four-time world champion revealed after January's Masters that he had been struggling with his mental health and said prior to the tournament that he had considered not defending his title, but he looked in excellent form when knocking in breaks of 129, 134 and 137 against Jones.

Selby has won four of the last eight editions of the Sheffield showpiece, yet the master of the Crucible is 4-6 to beat Yan Bingtao in round two.

The Jester looks to have the Tiger covered in every facet of the game, and while Bingtao showed his quality to win the Masters last season, there have been plenty of disappointing efforts since.

He performed well against Chris Wakelin in round one, but beating Selby is another prospect entirely and bookmakers may be overrating a player who has yet to make a Crucible quarter-final.

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