Kyren Wilson v Stephen Maguire: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Kyren Wilson is the reigning world champion and world number two but he has never enjoyed much success at the UK Championships, something the in-form cueist will be looking to put right this year.

He begins his campaign against Stephen Maguire, who lifted this trophy back in 2004 and who will be looking to repeat the trick 20 years later despite his poor recent form.

Kyren Wilson v Stephen Maguire betting tips and predictions

Kyren Wilson -2.5 frames @ 10/11

Some players can see their form fall off after winning the world championship, as best demonstrated by Luca Brecel after succeeding at the Crucible two years ago.

That has not been the case for Wilson, who has really kicked on since lifting the world title in May, winning the Xi’an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open this season.

The world number two has won 11 of his last 13 matches and his two defeats in that run have come against the player who has then gone on to win the tournament.

He was defeated 6-5 by eventual Champion of Champions winner Mark Williams earlier this month and before that was beaten 6-4 by Ding Junhui, who secured the victory en route to lifting the International Championship crown.

Those performances demonstrate that a player has to be at the top of their game to stop the Warrior at the moment, something that cannot be said of Maguire.

A player who has always struggled with consistency, the Scotsman’s career looked set to be kickstarted when he lifted the UK Championship in 2004, beating David Gray 10-1 in the final.

That has not come to pass however, he has only won four ranking titles in the 20 years since that success and drifted up and down the world rankings as a result.

He did reach the final of this tournament back in 2019, losing 10-6 to Ding, and also lifted the Tour Championship a year later, but his form has taken a real turn in the last few seasons.

Maguire has not gone beyond the fourth round at any competition this term and his last ranking event semi-final came back in the 2021 Welsh Open.

While he is clearly a top performer on his day, those efforts seem rarer and rarer at the moment, in sharp contrast with the consistency of Wilson.

Five of the Warrior’s last six victories have come by at least three frames and he could wrap up another comfortable victory against this out of form opponent.

Despite Maguire’s decent record at this tournament, it is hard to fancy him considering his current form and Wilson is taken to overcome a 2.5 frame headstart on the handicap at 10/11.

Over 1.5 match centuries - 8/13

A real asset of Wilson’s game in recent months has been his scoring power, he made 11 centuries at his last two tournaments alone, four in two matches at the Champion of Champions and seven in five outings at the International Championship.

He should be able to carry that scoring prowess over into this game and is fancied to play a big part in this match having two or more centuries.

Maguire could chip in with a century himself - he recorded one in both of his qualifying games at this tournament, a 6-3 win over Artemijs Zizins and a 6-5 success against Elliot Slessor.

The over for the match centuries line of 1.5 looks vulnerable at 8/13 in this clash.

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Kyren Wilson v Stephen Maguire odds

Kyren Wilson - 3/10
Stephen Maguire - 5/2

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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.