Saturday's Masters predictions and snooker betting tips: Shaun Murphy can conjure up some magic

Where to watch the Masters

BBC Two, BBC Four & Eurosport 1, 1pm & 7pm Saturday

Best bet

Shaun Murphy
1pt 7-4 general

Masters semi-final prediction

There is no love lost between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy, with words often exchanged between them in the heat of battle, but the Magician can let his snooker do the talking in Saturday’s blockbuster Masters semi-final.

The pair have been critical of one another on numerous occasions in recent seasons and there is nothing more that either would like than to silence their rival with a dominant display.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Rocket has been in full control of their personal series, winning 15 of their 20 meetings, which includes each of the last five encounters.

However, the manner of O'Sullivan's performance in his 6-3 quarter-final victory over Barry Hawkins, when he made a catalogue of uncharacteristic errors in a twitchy affair, must give Murphy hope.

It was a missed opportunity for the Hawk and a repeat display would surely be punished by Murphy who looked unplayable at times in his 6-3 win over Jack Lisowski.

The Magician had some trouble getting over the line but he raced into a 5-1 lead courtesy of breaks of 131 and 123 as his great strength of long potting came to the boil.

Murphy peaks for the Triple Crown events and, with his game seemingly in excellent shape, he looks a touch of value to upset the Rocket, who has not won the Masters since 2017.

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