Ali Carter vs Chris Wakelin Prediction: Battle of two competitive players

Ali Carter and Chris Wakelin will face each other in the Snooker Shoot-Out at Mattioli Arena Leicester. This will be the fifth time these two players will meet in their careers. Who wins this game?

Ali Carter

Ali Carter has had a rough run of performances during this encounter and hopes to get things right this time. The Englishman lost to Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski, and Jackson Page in his last matches. Despite those defeats, Ali Carter picked up wins over Cai Wei, Ross Muir, and Ryan Day, games that ended 6-1, 6-5, and 6-4. While his recent wins have not been convincing, looking at the level of players he defeated, more is expected from the Englishman, who hopes to get back to his best. 

Chris Wakelin

Chris Wakelin's last encounter was in the UK Championship, and the Englishman lost to Kyren Wilson. However, prior encounters to that defeat saw him pick up wins over Matthew Selt, Zak Surety, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Guodong Xiao. Yet, his final against Junhui Ding in the China International Championship ended in a 7-10 defeat. While he will look to extend his brilliant performances, we can expect Chris Wakelin to be at his best again and show character. 

Expert Betting Tips

Chris Wakelin has had more positive results in this fixture, and I expect him to be at his best again. However, I expect the tables to turn this time, with Ali Carter expected to get things right despite his poor results lately. Looking at the two players' run of games, there is little to no difference, and I will back the bookies in this one, as Carter is expected to win. Also, while this game is expected to close, a bet on frames is another good option.