Thursday's Champion of Champions predictions and snooker betting tips: Trump faced with a gilt-edged opportunity

Where to watch

Live on ITV4, 1pm & 7pm Thursday

Best bet

Over 6.5 frames in Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson
1pt 9-4 bet365

Thursday's Champion of Champions predictions

Judd Trump has been the standout player of the season so far with title successes at the English Open, the Wuhan Open and the Northern Ireland Open, and he has been rewarded with what is arguably the softest of the Champion of Champions sections.

An opening-round showdown with reigning women's world champion Baipat Siripaporn, who has lost all seven of her matches on the main tour this season, which includes back-to-back 4-0 defeats against Rod Lawler and Julien Leclercq, is a mismatch.

Trump, who has lost only one of his 23 matches since September, is 4-9 to record a whitewash in this best-of-seven contest and that looks a likely scenario.

However, it’s hardly worth getting stuck into and while he should take some stopping in Group 3 with Shaun Murphy or Gary Wilson lying in wait, outright odds of 2-5 are hardly inspiring either.

So the best bet on the baize on Thursday could stem from Murphy’s showdown with Wilson and that should prove more competitive than Trump’s opening salvo.

Murphy has lost four of his last seven matches while Wilson, making his Champion of Champions debut, is hit-and-miss and not a player to have maximum faith in.

But, in what represents a decent opportunity for both, it should be fiercely-contested and a chance is taken on this clash going to a deciding frame.

This pair have met four times over this format and three of those meetings went to a seventh and final frame while three of Murphy’s last six matches over this distance have gone all the way.

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