Monday's Masters Snooker Tips: Bingham and Williams get the verdict

Bingham hammered Un Nooh last week

This afternoon's match involves the defending champion and a Masters debutant. A telling indicator, reinforced by the fact they met last week at the Championship League, where Stuart Bingham beat Thepchaiya Un Nooh 3-0, hitting a 147 in the process.

It must however be noted that Bingham's supremacy is factored into odds of 1.6, and that the wider story is less clear. Prior to last year's surprise victory, Bingham had a poor Masters record. He hasn't reached a semi-final since.

Neither man in sparkling form

Nor though has Un Nooh, whose 16th place ranking is mostly owed to pre-2020 form. He's merely 33rd on the one year list.

Even though neither have been at their peak, Bingham definitely boasts the superior form in early rounds of tournaments. I plumped for him from this weak top quarter in my outright preview and expect he will come through here.

Correct-score combo plan for both games

In both matches I like the same bet - from our #OddsOnThat section. Bingham to win 6-3, 6-4 or 6-5 is 13/10. A decent plan to follow when not expecting one-sided matches.

In the evening match, Mark Williams is tipped to win by the same scorelines against Shaun Murphy - this time it pays 2/1.

Generally I'm highly inclined to avoid both right now. Williams has been way below his best since winning the 2018 World Championship, while Murphy has been suffering badly under the restrictive conditions due to Covid.

Murphy hard to back right now

'The Magician' has been quite open about the effect on his life, missing his family, and the wider mental health problems caused by lockdown. Pre-Christmas it had evidently taken a toll on his game.

I'm expecting a scrappy, low-standard affair tonight. For me, that favours Williams - one of the grittiest scrappers in the history of the game.

Follow Paul on Twitter @paulmotty