The Masters Snooker 2025 – Shaun Murphy vs Gary Wilson Tips and Betting Preview

The second part of the double header on the opening day of The Masters sees a former champion looking to make the quarter final when Shaun Murphy goes in search of a place in the last eight when he takes on Gary Wilson.

The draw has opened right up in the top quarter where these two are housed so both will be looking at this match as a massive opportunity for a deep run in an event which carries plenty of prize money so this is a big contest for both.

Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy had one of his greatest days in this tournament back in 2015 when he completed his own personal Triple Crown tally of trophies but that was 10 years ago and he might well think that having failed to make the final since then that he has underachieved in this tournament. That might be a little harsh because he hasn’t always been seeded in the top eight like he is here but he is a mainstay of the event and a class act who should be competing in more finals of events like these.

Murphy started the season off in good touch with a run to the final of the Shanghai Masters and then the semi-final in the ranking event out in Saudi Arabia but he has only made three quarter finals since then so there is a feeling that he has come off the boil a little bit. It might be that the Christmas break came at a good time for him and we see a better showing from Murphy. We are going to need to see that if he is to come through here.

Gary Wilson

This will only be the second time that Gary Wilson has qualified for this tournament and he will be making his Alexandra Palace debut here because the previous time he made it into the event it was the Covid year where it was played in Milton Keynes. That means that this will also be the first time he will have played in this tournament when there has been a crowd in attendance so he will be hoping that can launch his first win in the event.

Wilson hasn’t had a particularly great season. He has only made one quarter final in a ranking event and 2025 didn’t start great for him having competed in the opening group of the Championship League last week where he was one of only two top 16 players on show and yet he lost five of his six matches. Wilson will need to hope that the incredible venue and the one-table setup can inspire his best snooker to come out here because form wise he doesn’t look to have much of a chance.


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Head-to-head

These two men have met six times in their career with Murphy leading the head-to-head 4-2 in total. He has a 23-13 lead on the frame count though which suggests that the Murphy wins are pretty emphatic when they come along. This will be just their second match at the last 16 stage of a tournament with Murphy winning the previous one. It will be their first meeting at The Masters and the first time they have played over the best of 11 frames so how much we can rely on history remains to be seen.

Betting

This doesn’t look like a particularly favourable match for Gary Wilson. He has lost four of the six matches and the two he won were both in a deciding frame so when he is beaten he is generally well beaten and when he wins he gets over the line in a tight match. You would imagine if Wilson is going to win this match it will be a close one because those are the sort of matches Shaun Murphy loses a lot of. The question is whether Wilson can keep it close.

The evidence of the season so far suggests that he won’t do that and as such I think Murphy will win this and win it fairly well. We saw a one-sided opening to the first game of the day and the one thing Murphy knows how to do is get over the finish line, especially against Wilson. I wouldn’t say Murphy is going great guns himself but Wilson could barely win a match at the Championship League recently and is new to this tournament at this venue. I think Murphy -1.5 frames looks good here.

Tips

Back S.Murphy (-1.5 frames) to beat G.Wilson for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with Betway

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