Mikel Arteta insisted he is not pressing the panic button as he vowed to banish the “pain” of two consecutive defeats which have left Arsenal’s season sitting on a knife edge.

Arsenal arrive in Portugal for the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night following a shock last-eight FA Cup exit at Southampton which arrived off the back of their Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City.

It marked the first time this season that the Gunners have suffered back-to-back losses and raises serious questions about the club’s winning mentality at the business end of the campaign.

But Arteta, whose side still hold a nine-point lead in the Premier League, insisted: “What you have to be is clear. Instead of panic, understand if that happens, why it happened, and bring clarity. And when you analyse that and you accept that, you will be better. That’s it, and that’s the thing that we have to do.

“Have some perspective on how difficult it is. Feel that pain, feel that emotion, and use it to be better and to improve. There are a few things that we have discussed internally, and I’m very convinced that tomorrow we’re going to see that.

“I know what it means to them, and I know how much they want it. Now is the moment to show it, and we have to do it tomorrow at the highest level. We are hungrier than ever, very excited and very, very motivated.”

Arteta will be boosted by the return of Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard for his side’s first leg in Lisbon. Defender Gabriel will also be available despite limping off in the second half of his side’s defeat at St Mary’s with a knee injury.

However, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber have not made the trip, but Arteta is hopeful the duo will return against Bournemouth in the Premier League at the Emirates on Saturday.

Goalkeeper David Raya is set to return to the line-up following a two-match exodus with Kepa Arrizabalaga preferred by Arteta for the cup games.

Kepa’s mistake gifted City their first goal in Arsenal’s Wembley defeat with Raya’s omission raising eyebrows.

However, Raya said: “No, it wasn’t frustrating. It is part of football. Sometimes you get picked and sometimes you don’t. That’s up to the boss.

“You have to be there for your team and your team-mates and in this example, Kepa, and trying to help as much as possible.

“We are ready to go again. I don’t think the word is ‘pressure’. It was disappointing losing to Southampton but that has gone. We have to use that fuel and pain to pick it up for the rest of the season and that starts tomorrow.

“It is an opportunity to show who we are and what we are capable of and we have to grab this massive opportunity and win tomorrow’s game.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Public discussion of how UConn got here makes little sense to Dan Hurley, and one could relate to his openly confounded demeanor on the dais as the Huskies are painted as big underdogs for the second time in two Final Four games on Monday.

Before we talk present day, consider he’s on the verge of his 200th win in eight seasons at UConn (199-74) a winning percentage a lot of his peers would love to have.

Hurley can win a third national title in four years if the Huskies pull off the upset — technically speaking, as UConn was an 8-point underdog Monday morning — and improve the all-time program record in the Final Four to a remarkable 14-1.

A narrative that somehow a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament with 34 wins is a surprise national title game entry is insincere or lazy. You don’t have to agree with Dan Hurley’s sideline antics or appreciate his personality to approve of the context of his rebuttal to the ‘dog label.

“Underdog, I don’t know that we necessarily feel like a huge, huge underdog,” he said. “Obviously we acknowledge Michigan’s greatness and the team that they are, but we’re a 34-win team coming into the game.”

Michigan has rolled through this tournament and hit a level of dominance the past two games — scorching Tennessee in the Midwest regional final by over 30 and holding a lead by the same count against an Arizona team that beat UConn in November — perhaps even on a track to be compared to Hurley’s best UConn team. It was his second of the back-to-back title winners in 2023 and 2024.

But with dominance and elevated expectations comes a new level of pressure. Hurley ushers his team to the court Monday night with nothing to lose. A third Final Four in four years already stamps his legacy as one of the game’s great modern-era coaches.

“In ’24, you know you have the best team. There is a certain level of pressure that comes with — it’s like when you get to the Final Four and you know you have the best team, that was a different level of pressure than in ’23 where we weren’t really sure,” Hurley said. “It was our first time. We weren’t sure we were the best team in ’23, we were just trying to win the next game.”

Hurley did compare the current team to his 2023 club on Friday before showing off a championship-level defense that muted Illinois’ high-octane attack. UConn held the Illini under 65 points for the second time this season and used a brand of physicality that made freshman point guard Keaton Wagler uncomfortable. When money time came around with under 4 minutes to play, Wagler’s legs were toast. He had two open — but extra long distance — looks that clanged the front of the rim as Illinois closed to within two possessions.

When it appeared Illinois had overcome past demons by handling Houston’s heavy on-ball pressure and physical play in the South regional semifinals, UConn’s Big East muscle hit different.

Now the underdogs — Hurley’s refuse-to-lose Huskies — try to squash a fourth Big Ten foe in this tournament (UCLA, Michigan State, Illinois) with another on-brand effort.

“We’re a tough program. We’re a tough program. We’re a group of fighters. It’s not appealing to everyone. I’m sure there’s some people in here that it’s offputting for,” Hurley said. “But we are a group of fighters. We are incredibly tough. We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle. Again, for us it’s not a game that we’re just kind of running around in uniforms throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. That’s not what we’re doing out there. We’re fighting. It’s a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship, and then just to be able to prolong this season with each other and to make the people of Connecticut proud, to make the university proud and all the former great players.”

Jason Day played his first Masters practice round of the week in a vest covered with birds (scarlet tanagers, eastern bluebirds, red-headed woodpeckers, among others), so you’d be forgiven if you missed a new sponsor he had emblazoned just above his flock of feathered friends.

On Monday, Day and retirement-planning provider TIAA announced a new partnership that named the 13-time PGA Tour winner and 2015 PGA Championship winner as the company’s inaugural “Golf Ambassador.”

In a release, TIAA noted Day’s “tenacity, discipline and relentless focus on the long game,” as well as his ability to reach a younger demographic through his popular YouTube channel, The Lads, as reasons the partnership between the Australian star and the financial planning firm make sense.

“Partnering with TIAA feels right because we share a belief that everyone deserves a secure financial future,” Day said in a statement. “I’ve worked my whole career to build something lasting: for myself, for my family, and for the next generation. TIAA is doing that same work for millions of people, and I’m proud to help bring that message to a new generation.”

Micky Onvural, TIAA’s chief marketing and communications officer said: “Jason Day is not only one of the most accomplished players of this generation, but also part of a movement reshaping what golf looks and feels like. Jason has helped bring the game to new audiences, making it more accessible, authentic, and exciting for younger fans. He has faced setbacks, risen above them, and continued to compete at the highest level, and that spirit of perseverance is exactly what connects him so naturally to TIAA’s mission and to the people we are proud to serve.”

The partnership will see Day and TIAA work together on “a number of brand initiatives, digital content and engagement opportunities.”

Day is ranked 41st in the world. He has two top-10s in seven starts in 2026 and is coming off a T6 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open two weeks ago. In 14 career Masters starts, he has five top-10 finishes, including a T8 in 2025.

Before the NFL starts the process of putting the schedule together, each team is allowed to make a few requests and the Kansas City Chiefs definitely took advantage of that this year. For the most part, the requests tend to stay between the team and the league, but that’s not the case with Kansas City. 

Chiefs president Mark Donovan has revealed two of the scheduling requests that his team has made for 2026, so let’s take a look at them and then break down whether the league will grant the Chiefs their wishes. 

Chiefs want to play in Spain

The Atlanta Falcons will be the home team for this year’s game in Spain and the Chiefs want to be the visiting team, something they’ve emphasized in communications with the NFL. “We’ve been very open and aggressive with the league — as we have been since the beginning — that we want to play in Spain this year,” Donovan said, via the Kansas City Star. “We think it would be a great market, game [and] matchup.”

There are two things working in Kansas City’s favor here. For one, the Chiefs have marketing rights in Spain. Kansas City is one of just three teams that has marketing rights in the country along with the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears. The NFL played in Spain for the first time ever last year and the Dolphins played in that game, so it would make some sense to send Kansas City this year. 

The other thing working in the Chiefs’ favor is that they’re scheduled to play on the road against Atlanta this year. Since the Falcons will be hosting the game, it will come against one of the teams on their home schedule, which consists of the Panthers, Saints, Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, 49ers, Ravens, Bengals and Chiefs. Divisional games usually don’t get moved to Europe and if you throw in the fact that the Lions and 49ers already have international games scheduled, that leaves just four realistic options (Bears, Ravens, Bengals, Chiefs). The Ravens are reportedly playing in Brazil this year against the Cowboys, and if that’s the case, that would eliminate them, so then we’re down to three options, so the Chiefs have to like their chances in that scenario. 

On the other hand, there’s also a chance the NFL could deny the Chiefs’ request. As we just mentioned, Chicago is also an option to play the Falcons in Madrid and the Bears also have marketing rights in Spain, so the NFL could certainly end up sending them to the Spanish capital instead of the Chiefs. 

And then there’s the Bengals, who seem to be a wild card candidate. If the NFL doesn’t want to upset the Bears or Chiefs, who both have marketing rights, they could send a team that doesn’t have marketing rights. In this case, that would be Cincinnati, which is something the league is considering, according to Mike North, the NFL’s Vice President of Broadcast Planning. Joe Burrow wanted to play in Spain last year and the league definitely took notice of it. 

“He’s been vocal about it. I remember he was pretty disappointed last year when you guys didn’t go,” North said recently in an interview with Bengals.com. “I think that’s a real possibility for the Bengals this year. …. Certainly, they’re a candidate to go play Washington in London, certainly a candidate to go play Atlanta in Madrid.”

The Chiefs have played at least one international game in two of the past three seasons with a game in Germany (2023) and a game in Brazil (2025) and they could add to that total this year. 

VERDICT: Don’t book your ticket to Spain just yet if you’re a Chiefs fan. 

Chiefs want to play on Christmas

The Chiefs have played on Christmas for three straight seasons, and now, they want to make it four in a row. 

“We’d love to play on Christmas,” Donovan said, via ESPN. “We respect that the league wants to spread it around. We get it. Right now, we expect to be in a lot of prime-time games. We’ve made it pretty clear that our preference is to play at home on Christmas.” 

This is one request that the Chiefs probably have a good chance of getting, especially with Christmas falling on a Friday this year. We already know there will be three games on Dec. 25 this year, which means that the NFL will need six teams to fill the Christmas schedule. With the holiday falling on a Friday, some teams might he hesitant to volunteer for a game due to the short week, so this could be a spot where the NFL gives the Chiefs what they want. 

Last year, the Chiefs actually asked the league if they could play on Christmas every year, but the NFL shot that idea down. In the short term, though, the Chiefs make sense. This could be Travis Kelce’s final season and featuring him in a Christmas game with his new wife Taylor Swift in attendance — they’re expected to be married this summer — seems like something the NFL would give some serious consideration to. 

VERDICT: Chiefs probably get their Christmas wish fulfilled. 

One more note: Chiefs likely won’t open against the Seahawks

Seattle will be hosting the opening game of the NFL season and the Chiefs are a candidate to play in the game, but don’t look for that to happen. 

Owner Clark Hunt said the league likely won’t tab the Chiefs to play in that Wednesday game since’t it’s not yet clear if Patrick Mahomes would be available for the Sept. 9 game. “I don’t think that’s on the table anymore,” Hunt said. “I think from a league standpoint, there would be some concern whether [Patrick Mahomes] would be ready to go.”

Mahomes tore his ACL back in December and although he’s aiming for a Week 1 return, there’s no guarantee that’s going to happen, and as Hunt said, the league wouldn’t want to risk the chance of scheduling the Chiefs in a such a high-profile game if there’s a chance that Mahomes might not play. 

With the Chiefs out of contention, the means Seattle will face one of the following teams in Week 1: The Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Chargers, Patriots or Cardinals. The 49ers and Rams also play in Seattle this year, but they’re out of the running for the Week 1 game since they’ll be facing each other in Australia. 

UEFA Champions League knockout round action moves into the quarterfinal stage with the first legs taking place on Tuesday, April 7 and Wednesday, April 8. One of those quarterfinal matchups features Sporting CP from Portugal’s Primeira Liga taking on Arsenal from the English Premier League. These sides last met in the 2022-23 UCL Round of 16 and Sporting CP advanced, defeating Arsenal 5-3 on penalties in the second leg after the aggregate score finished at 3-3 in regulation across the two legs.

Kickoff from Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon is set for 3 p.m. ET and soccer fans can stream the action live on Paramount+. Arsenal are -130 road favorites on the 90-minute money line in the latest Sporting vs. Arsenal odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the hosts are +360 underdogs. A draw is priced at +280 while the total is set at 2.5 (Over -110, Under -115). Before locking in your wagers for Sporting CP vs. Arsenal in Tuesday’s UCL quarterfinal first leg, you should see what SportsLine soccer expert Martin Green is betting for the game.

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After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including Euro qualifying (+6.30 units), EFL Cup (+4.47), FA Cup (+3.07) and Champions League (+3.05), among others. Anyone who follows him could be way up.    

Here are Green’s best bets and analysis for Sporting CP vs. Arsenal on Tuesday, April 7.

Sporting CP vs. Arsenal best bets

• Arsenal money line (-130): 1u
• Viktor Gyokeres anytime goalscorer (+200): 0.5u

Arsenal should be too strong for Sporting Lisbon when the teams clash in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday. The Gunners finished at the top of the Champions League table after winning all eight of their group stage games. They beat elite rivals like Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan, cementing their status as one of Europe’s best teams. Arsenal have had a wobble in recent weeks, losing to Manchester City and Southampton in cup competitions, but they should return to winning ways on Tuesday. They thumped Sporting Lisbon 5-1 on the road last season, which highlighted the gulf in quality between these teams.

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Raya’s return should boost Arsenal

Two weeks ago, pundits were debating whether Arsenal could complete an historic quadruple this season. The Gunners are nine points clear of Man City at the top of the Premier League table and they were going strong in three other competitions. However, those dreams have gone up in smoke. The Gunners suffered a 2-0 defeat to Man City in the EFL Cup final and they then lost 2-1 to Southampton in the FA Cup quarterfinal on Saturday evening. They are now chasing just two trophies, but they still have a strong chance of winning silverware this season. The Gunners are priced at -1400 with some sportsbooks to win the Premier League, and they’re still the outright favorites to win the Champions League too. Those defeats to Man City and Southampton had one common denominator: Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arsenal’s backup goalkeeper plays in cup competitions and has endured a disastrous couple of weeks. He dropped the ball onto Nico O’Reilly‘s head in the EFL Cup final, gifting Man City a goal, and his distribution was poor throughout the game. He then delivered another error-strewn display against Southampton, making his defenders jittery throughout. Normal service should be resumed when first-choice goalkeeper David Raya returns to the starting XI against Sporting Lisbon. He’s vastly superior to Arrizabalaga, having won the last two Premier League Golden Glove awards.

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A homecoming for Gyokeres

Viktor Gyökeres was powerless to stop Arsenal thrashing Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Champions League last season. The Swedish striker scored 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting, but he didn’t have much joy against Arsenal’s formidable defense. Yet the Gunners were clearly impressed, as they signed him for an initial fee of £55 million ($73 million) last summer. He hasn’t been quite as prolific for Arsenal but he’s starting to find his feet in England. Gyökeres has scored 17 goals in 43 games for Arsenal this season, and he was on target in their defeat to Southampton on Saturday. He also fired in four goals in two matches for Sweden during the recent international break, which should boost his confidence. He’ll now head back to his former club with a point to prove.

Gyökeres could be the man to put Sporting to the sword on Tuesday. They’ve regressed slightly since selling him and they currently trail Porto by five points at the top of the Portuguese league table. Sporting finished seventh in the Champions League group stage with five wins from eight games before beating Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in the Round of 16. They lost 3-0 in Norway, but they won the second leg 3-0, and it went to extra time. Late goals from Maximiliano Araújo and Rafael Nel then clinched a famous 5-3 aggregate win. That should boost their confidence, but Arsenal still look superior to Sporting.

The Gunners were missing several key players against Southampton and manager Mikel Arteta should field a stronger starting XI on Tuesday. Gabriel Magalhães, Piero Hincapié and Noni Madueke could miss out, while Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino are definitely missing. Yet Jurriën Timber, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard could all return. Martin Ödegaard has also shaken off an injury, while Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Max Dowman and Gabriel Martinelli are all available in attack. Sporting are missing a few key players too. Fotis Ioannidis, Geovany Quenda and Nuno Santos are all injured, captain Morten Hjulmand is suspended and Luis Guilherme is doubtful. Luis Suarez and Trincão will be dangerous in attack but if Arsenal play anywhere near their best, they should get the better of Sporting.

With the advent of Easter, developers of Grow a Garden released a huge update, introducing new pets, plants, cosmetics, and events, among others. The Easter Bunny is one of 10 new critters that were released in the Easter Event 2026. It features an ability that will benefit players during this update, making it a decent grab for a limited time.

This article covers everything about the Easter Bunny, from its abilities to its acquisition in Grow a Garden.

What does the Easter Bunny do in Grow a Garden?

The Easter Bunny is a Divine rarity pet that was added to the game with the most recent update. This critter has a decent ability that makes it apt for the Easter Event:

Egg Hunt: The Easter Egg hides an Easter Egg reward in a random spot at regular intervals. You will get rewards/positive effects when you find the Easter Egg.

Cosmetically, it is a reskin of a rabbit dressed in cyan, wearing a hat. It is also depicted holding a basket filled with blue and pink eggs. Speaking of value, the Easter Bunny is definitely a great alternative to its other variants, like Bunny, Black Bunny, and Pink Bunny.

How to get the Easter Bunny in Grow a Garden?

It is currently the second-best item you can obtain from the Golden Egg with a 1% drop rate. This Divine rarity item can be obtained from the Golden Egg Shop for 25,000 Choc coins. You can also acquire a Gilded Choc mutated version of this pet from the Gilded Choc Golden Egg that has a 0.5% chance of spawning from the Golden Egg.

To earn Choc Coins, harvest Easter plants and sell them off at the Easter Sell Stand to earn this time-limited event currency.

FAQs on Grow a Garden

What ability does the Easter Bunny have in Grow a Garden?

The Easter Bunny has a special ability called Egg Hunt. At regular intervals, it hides an Easter Egg reward somewhere in the garden. Players who find the egg receive rewards or positive effects, making the pet especially useful during the Easter event.

How can you obtain the Easter Bunny in Grow a Garden?

You can get the Easter Bunny from the Golden Egg in the Golden Egg Shop for 25,000 Choc Coins.

What is the rarity of this pet?

Easter Bunny is a Divine rarity critter.