We know that Ronnie O’Sullivan will be in the final of the Champion of Champions and on Saturday evening we will find out who will join him when Shaun Murphy takes on Luca Brecel in the second semi-final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Both men came through their groups impressively earlier in the week to set up what looks like it could be a tantalising showdown here.
Shaun Murphy
Having arrived here without a win in four attempts when he lined up in his group semi-final, Murphy could be forgiven for thinking he is freerolling from here on in. He would have been expected to come past Mark King and then Michael White but his previous record in the competition gave us doubts.
Nevertheless although not always looking sure of himself and solid he did see off those two opponents to make his way into this semi-final. He is generally a big match player so you have to think he will play well in this match but the signs are that he is going to need to as Brecel appears in good touch himself.
Luca Brecel
This is Luca Brecel’s debut in this tournament and when you saw the group he was placed in you could be forgiven for thinking that he had no chance of making it to this stage but he blew Judd Trump away with a barrage of scoring and fought off a fightback from Mark Selby in the group final to book his spot here.
Brecel appeared to be exuding the confidence of a ranking event winner on Wednesday and if he can relax into the form he showed throughout that entire day then he is going to take a little bit of stopping here. The thing that impressed me most about his play, especially against Selby, was actually his safety play which was sensational.
Head to Head
These two have met on eight previous occasions and each of them have won four times. Brecel has won four of the last five meetings including the final of the China Championship earlier in the season which qualified him for this tournament. Brecel also beat Murphy in the qualifying event for the Riga Masters earlier in this campaign.
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Betting
I think the recent record of the two and the way that Luca Brecel played in his group makes him the bet in what looks like a fantastic semi-final. We shouldn’t underestimate Shaun Murphy by any stretch of the imagination but he clearly has an issue playing against the Belgian star.
Brecel was fantastic earlier in the week and he must be brimming with confidence going into this semi-final knowing he has won four of the last five meetings between the two of them. I think he can make that five out of six in a semi-final I’m really looking forward to.
Tips
Back L.Brecel to beat S.Murphy for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
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