Mark Allen vs Anthony McGill Prediction: Allen to make it to the next round

The 2023 British Open will begin on September 25 at the Centaur racecourse in Cheltenham, and the final will be held on October 1. Defending champion Ryan Day, along with Judd Trump and John Higgins, will compete in the ranked event, although Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be present. However, one of the first-day matches pits Mark Allen against Anthony McGill. Both competitors are striving for victory, but who do you think will advance?

Mark Allen will enter this match with momentum after claiming victory over Ma Hailong in his most recent match, which was played in the International Championship Qualification and ended with a score of 6-2. However, prior to that match, Mark Allen suffered a defeat at the hands of Zhengyi Fan in the Shanghai Masters in a match that concluded with a score of 3-6. In addition, Mark Allen picked up victories in the European Masters against John Astley and Anton Kazakov. It is anticipated that the fact that the Northern Irish golfer is the favorite will give him an advantage as he continues his pursuit of a spot in the main competition of the British Open.

Anthony McGill will come into this match having won his previous two matches in a row, first against Allen Burden in the match to qualify for the International Championship and then against Himanshu Dinesh Jain in the match to qualify for the English Open. However, the fact that the Scottish will be going into this match as the underdog means that it will be a significant one for him, as he will now need to perform at his absolute best if he wants to win here. In the interim, before those three victories in a row, Anthony McGill suffered setbacks in his matches against Si Jiahui, Dominic Dale, and Ishpreet Chadha.

Both of these players have been successful recently, and I anticipate that they will continue to do well in this match as well. In the meantime, Mark Allen has always been a formidable opponent, and I have full faith that the Northern Irishman will demonstrate his sophistication. In addition, despite the fact that I believe Anthony McGill will make things more difficult than they need to be here, I anticipate the Scottish closing the spread here.