Eurosport's expert commentator Mike Hallett admits it is hard to look past Ronnie O'Sullivan in the World Championship final in Sheffield.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan has an 8-0 head-to-head record over Ali Carter, but Ali still definitely has a chance in this match, he is playing well.

However, I was speaking to Joe Johnson earlier and we both agreed it will come down to how much the matches that he has already played will have taken out of him.

He had a tight 10-9 against Barry Hawkins, he had a toughie against Peter Ebdon 13-9, and then also he had that 17-5 last night so it is a question as to how much he has left in the tank.

We know that Ronnie has had a day off and the way he won against Hendry with a session to spare was fantastic and everybody is going for Ronnie - he is 1/8 to win the title - so obviously Ronnie is a very strong favourite.

I think what will be key for Ali is how he does in the first two sessions, and how he stands up to Ronnie.

If he comes out this afternoon and gets level at 4-4 and then maybe only goes down 5-3 tonight then he has every chance.

There is two ways of looking at Ronnie having the day off. After playing so well against Hendry, he probably wanted to get straight back on the table again but on the other hand he has had a day to refresh while Ali has only had a few hours.

I think a key factor will be whether Ali had a good night's sleep last night, he could be in trouble if he was tossing and turning all night, but if he got a good nine or 10 hours in then he will be fresh and ok.

However, I think the match is all about Ronnie O'Sullivan. We all think the World Championship is in Ronnie's hands - it is his to win - it is just a question as to whether anybody can take it away from him.

I'm not sure if Ali is the man who can do that, he is certainly playing well enough, but has got the game where he can play at a certain level to beat Ronnie over 35 frames? We'll see, but obviously at the moment you have to go for Ronnie.

I heard an interview with Ali just before the final and he didn't say a lot, but he was talking about how he got this far but he was not here to come second, he wanted to win the final, and good luck to him, he is a great lad.

I think this is the final we all wanted, no disrespect to Joe Perry, he is a great player, but he is a little more dogmatic than Ali; I think from a spectator point of view everybody wanted to see this match and it should be a great final.

However, my final prediction that I gave to Joe Johnson and David Hendon last night was 18-11 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Mike Hallett was talking to Seán Fay / Eurosport