Mark Allen will begin the defence of his Masters crown against a familiar opponent at Alexandra Palace.

The Northern Irishman will face world number 14 Luca Brecel, who he faced at the same stage last year.

The Belgian gave a good account of himself on his Masters debut, with the match three frames all at one stage, before The Pistol showed his potting prowess with consecutive breaks of 73, 70 and 120 to seal the victory on his way to his first of three titles in 2018.

The world number six also triumphed at the Scottish Open against Shaun Murphy and the International Championship in China with Neil Robertson the victim as Allen capped his most successful year to date.

The Belfast-born cueist has 38 century breaks to his name in 2018/19, the same figure as Ronnie O’Sullivan, and has lofty ambitions to add to his sole Triple Crown win at Alexandra Palace last year after finishing runner-up in the UK Championship at the end of 2018.

Allen has never lost to Brecel in their four meetings, which includes a 6-0 drubbing at the 2014 UK Championship.

Brecel has learnt much since then, and the 23-year-old will be hoping to build on his significant talent that saw him beat Masters rival Judd Trump as recently as last week.

Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player, with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.