John Higgins v Luca Brecel predictions: Tour Championship semi-final

Free snooker tips, predictions, best bets and analysis for Saturday's Tour Championship semi-final between John Higgins v Luca Brecel.

Where to watch

ITV4, 1pm Saturday

Best bet

Under 2.5 centuries
1pt 6-4 Hills

Semi-final preview

John Higgins gets his chance to avenge this season’s Scottish Open final defeat to Luca Brecel when the pair meet in the last four of the Tour Championship, and the Wizard of Wishaw should be confident of completing the job.

Experience proved vital as Higgins clawed himself back from 8-4 down to prevail in a decider against Zhao Xintong in his quarter-final, but punters can expect him to be much sharper from the off here.

Higgins, our pre-tournament outright selection at 6-1, has had five days rest since his dramatic win on Monday, which came just one day on from when he arrived back from the Gibraltar Open.

So it is understandable that the Scot made a sluggish start in Llandudno, although there were still some uncharacteristic misses that make quotes of 1-2 easy to swerve.

Brecel recorded an impressive 10-6 win over Judd Trump in his Tour Championship opener but a break of 100 in frame five was his only century of the contest and he doesn't always back up a positive display.

Higgins failed to register a century in his opening-round triumph, with a high break of just 83, which makes the century line of 3.5 look too high.

There were only two centuries in Brecel’s Scottish Open victory over Higgins in December and backing this contest to feature three or fewer looks of decent value at 4-7.

However, Hills go 6-4 about no more than two, which is a tempting alternative for those wanting to avoid betting at odds-on.

Not got a bet365 account? Bet £10 & get £50 in free bets

Open account offer. Minimum deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as bet credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Minimum odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude bet credits stake. Time limits/T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

MORE FREE BETS

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport