Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2024 World Snooker Championship match.
Stephen Maguire
The first round saw Maguire struggling with Ali Carter in a tough game. Stephen won eventually (10:7). His current opponent, Shaun Murphy, is a better option for Maguire as they have quite similar styles. Stephen has managed to avoid making mistakes so far, although he tried to take risks in the first round but he succeeded. Stephen was better than Carter according to the statistics.
Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy beat Lyu Haotian in the first game without significant problems (10:5). Long shots statistics were twice better than what the Chinese opponent showed. However, I should admit that Lyu is not the strongest opponent, so Murphy was supposed to advance. Having quite a controversial season on the background, Shaun Murphy has started this tournament pretty well.
Stephen Maguire – Shaun Murphy prediction
Shaun Murphy isn’t ahead of Stephen Maguire in the head-to-head games record. Shaun Murphy has already admitted that he will be able to win this game easily only if Stephen Maguire is completely unlucky. This match may last quite long as both players will be stubborn due to a complicated relationship between them. The betting option I’ve chosen has been successful in the last 3 head-to-head games as in many matches played between these opponents throughout history.
