Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Barry Hawkins has former world number one and fellow left-hander Mark Allen standing between himself and a first-ever UK Championship final appearance.

The Hawk has already dismissed former winners Ronnie O'Sullivan and Shaun Murphy this week in York and could well be set to add the 2022 champion to his victim-list at the Barbican.

Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen betting tips and predictions

Barry Hawkins to win - 13/10

Hawkins is ranked 20th in the world right now and Allen sits behind only Judd Trump and world champion Kyren Wilson as world number three.

Much of that owes to Allen's fantastic 2022/23 season which saw him scale the mountain and reach top spot in the world rankings for the first time.

A glance at the current one-year list shows Allen in 23rd spot, one behind Hawkins, which suggests this semi-final is going to be a very close affair.

This week, Hawkins has shown excellent touch. He rattled off four frames in a row to beat defending champion O'Sullivan and then held his nerve against Dave Gilbert to win a decider after trailing 4-5.

The Hawk is hunting a maiden Triple Crown title, having been runner-up in two Masters finals and the 2013 World Championship.

He took out Murphy with a competent display, compiling breaks of 63, 69, 91, 80 and 82 in a 6-2 success. The Magician had levelled at 2-2 after knocks of 108 and 92, so was clearly playing well himself.

Allen has gotten himself out of trouble at times this week, having trailed Wu Yize 4-2 and Jack Lisowski 3-1 in his last two matches.

The Antrim ace did what was needed on Friday night in his quarter-final, but Lisowski had chances in the last two frames and couldn't take them - the questions over his ability to win in such scenarios are not going away.

Hawkins, despite not having a Triple Crown win, is a four-time ranking event winner and he pointedly felt after beating Murphy that he was playing 'close to his best'.

He trails Allen 9-12 in their career head-to-head but, as was the case with Murphy, his recent record in Triple Crown clashes is positive, with Hawkins winning their last three such meetings.

Race To 3 Frames - Barry Hawkins - 11/10

The alternative to backing Hawkins for the win is taking the Kent potter for a quick start against an opponent who has been taking time to warm up.

Allen has lost the race to three to both Jackson Page and Wu Yize in York, before recovering to win, while at Champions of Champions he trailed 0-3 against Jak Jones before winning 6-4 and was 3-1 down against Xiao Guodong en route to losing their semi-final 6-3.

When this pair met at the Xi'an Grand Prix in August, Hawkins led 3-0 as he dismissed the Pistol 5-3 in the last-16, while their previous tussle at the 2023 Masters ended with a 6-0 win for Hawkins.

He can make the brighter start in this Saturday night Barbican showdown.

Total Frames Over 9.5 - 1/1

The quarter-finals failed to produce the drama of the last-16, with none of Friday's four matches needing more than nine frames to decide them.

This is almost certain to be a close call. It went 5-3 in the Xi'an Grand Prix last time the pair met and, with both men in decent nick this week and Allen's steeliness for a battle not in any doubt, it should run deep and 6-4 either way - or even another tense final-frame decider - would come as no surprise.

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Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen odds

Barry Hawkins - 13/10
Mark Allen - 8/13

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.