Tuesday June 23
These two close friends have played out some terrific matches in recent years, Allen getting the better of Murphy in the final of the 2018 Scottish Open while the latter has won the three meetings between the pair since.
Much like last season, Allen started the current campaign strongly but having failed to get his hands on the silverware his efforts deserved, his form has tailed off since Christmas and I'm not sure he is playing well enough right now to match an in-form and on-song Murphy.
The Northern Irishman suffered an early exit at the Championship League and with Murphy in the midst of a fruitful season and boasting an impressive overall head-to-head record over Allen (15-7), it is hard to envisage the Englishman not inflicting another defeat on his pal this week.
While Allen travelled to this venue to contest to Championship League recently, he again struggled to match anything like the level of snooker he produced last term, or at the beginning of this one, and he remains someone to be wary of for the time being at least.
Murphy, on the other hand, didn't contest the Championship League so is another who is hard to weigh up in terms of where his game will be at and the amount of practice he has been able to put in.
Given the Englishman is heavily odds-on for this one, and with Allen inspiring little confidence at present, no bet appears the only sensible option.
Prediction:
Sunday June 21
Arguably the clash of the draw, one that pits one of the greatest players to ever grace the green baize against a young man on a relentless and very real pursuit to surpass any player that has come before him.
Six ranking titles for the reigning world champion already this season tells a story of almost peerless snooker produced with the consistency very rarely seen before, and Trump is now strong favourite for every tournament he enters.
His latest victory in Gibraltar in March was professional and brilliant in equal measure and having spent much of the early part of his career being schooled and mastered by John Higgins and his rock-solid all-round game, Trump has now won each of the last six meetings between the pair, including five times in all competitions this term.
The freshness angle might interest some Higgins supporters this week and while it is true that some of the veteran's best recent performances have often come on the back of a light workload or some indifferent results - see last season's World Championship runner-up finish - it's hard to escape the feeling that Trump now has the wood over his old master.
While not at his best at the Championship League, Trump didn't look massively out of sorts and the steely look of determination on his face when pinching a frame back against David Gilbert to keep his faint title hopes alive tells me he remains hungry for more success.
I'd expect him to be much closer to peak form on his return to Milton Keynes and a bold bid for a title he might well think he should have claimed last year looks highly likely.
Prediction:
Monday June 22
It is strange to think that a campaign that has yielded the English and Scottish Open titles could be seen in some quarters as slightly underwhelming but should Mark Selby end the season without making a significant impact in Milton Keynes this week or at the forthcoming World Championship, the former world number one might look back on events with a tinge of disappointment.
It's not that Selby hasn't produced some top-class snooker this term - his demolition of David Gilbert in the final of the English Open was as good an exhibition of snooker as you will see - but consistency continues to hold him back. Too often has Selby produced sessions littered with unforced errors and unlike in previous years, he has been unable to farm the scrappy frames and, indeed, matches, in a way that had made him such a tough nut to crack.
In Yan Bingtao, he will face an opponent on Monday who is firmly on the upgrade having won the Riga Masters already this season, along with reaching another major final and three semi-finals. That other final came at the recent Players Championship when he was readily outpointed by an irresistible Judd Trump, but with his current level of progress rapid and the best years clearly ahead of this 20-year-old, the sky really is the limit for the Chinese star.
Multi-session matches are the next step in his development but he has the all-round game to prosper under such parameters and the 2/1 on offer for him to take another big scalp in Selby this week simply cannot be ignored.
Prediction:
Recommended bet:
Posted at 1015 BST on 16/06/20
We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
Sky Bet's responsible gambling tools are detailed and if you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit .