Judd Trump v John Higgins: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Judd Trump and John Higgins both know what it takes to go all the way at the UK Championship but only one of them can progress from their second-round clash at the York Barbican on Thursday.

World number one Trump, who lifted this title for the only time to date back in 2011, was made to work hard during his first-round victory over Neil Robertson, battling back from 3-1 down to prevail 6-3.

Things went a lot smoother for three-time UK Champion Higgins, who thrashed He Guoqiang 6-0 in his opening contest.

Remarkably, this will be the first-ever meeting between these two greats of the game at the UK Championship, with the winner set to face either Zhang Anda or Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals.

Judd Trump v John Higgins betting tips and predictions

Judd Trump -2.5 handicap - 1/1

It has been another impressive season to date for Trump, who claimed his 29th ranking-event success - moving him to outright fourth on the all-time list - with victory at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in September.

The Ace in the Pack has reached a further two finals, a semi-final and two quarter-finals this season, while he was also a winner of the non-ranking Shanghai Masters.

All that meant he was rightfully among the favourites heading into this week's opening Triple Crown event of the season, a belief that was added to following Ronnie O'Sullivan's first-round exit, although Trump himself was staring down the barrel of defeat in his opener.

First-round opponent Robertson missed a glorious chance to go 4-1 up during that first-round contest, but Trump took full advantage of his reprieve, winning five frames on the spin to seal his progress.

Trump was still battling to overcome Robertson long after Higgins had wrapped up his first-round victory over Guoqiang, although it is hard to read too much into that success, as he was facing an opponent making his debut appearance in the main draw of a Triple Crown event.

There is no doubting Higgins played well, but he will be facing a completely different challenge against Trump and recent meetings between the pair have not gone the way of the Wizard of Wishaw.

Trump has won each of the last four head-to-heads, most recently a 5-2 success at last month's Wuhan Open, while he also prevailed by that scoreline in the quarter-finals of last season's German Masters - a tournament he went on to win.

This will be a best-off-11-frame contest and off the back of winning five successive frames against Robertson, Trump will fancy his chances of getting the better of another former UK Champion and he can do so with something to spare.

Over 1.5 match centuries - 5/6

Trump and first-round opponent Robertson were critical of the playing conditions at the Barbican Centre on Tuesday, but that did not stop both players from recording century breaks.

A break of 126 in the seventh frame put Trump in front for the first time in the match and that was his 36th century of the season, the most of any player on the tour.

With 1,015 career centuries to his name, Trump is second on the all-time list behind only O'Sullivan, while the player in third position, and the only other man to have recorded more than 1,000 centuries, is Higgins.

Higgins claimed career-century number 1,003 in his victory over Guoqiang and although he is not matching Trump's levels of scoring this season, the 49-year-old still has 15 three-figure breaks to his name.

The last two times these two players have met in a best-of-11-frame match - at the 2023 English Open and the European Masters that same year - there have been three and two centuries recorded respectively and given the quality of both players, at least two more should be registered on Thursday.

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Judd Trump v John Higgins odds

Judd Trump - 1/3
John Higgins - 12/5

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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.