Manchester City and Arsenal meet at the Etihad this afternoon in what is being billed as a Premier League title race decider.

Mikel Arteta started a fire at the training ground this week but if his Arsenal team fall at the Etihad tomorrow their season could go down in flames.

Manchester City have the momentum, the home advantage and the title-winning know-how. They’ve also seemingly clicked into gear at just the right time.

Pep Guardiola oozed calm when he faced the media on Friday afternoon. The City boss, dressed in crisp white club attire, spoke at length on the match, the title race and how City must play the game and not the occasion.

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He referenced Arsenal’s 22-year wait for the title more than once, openly offered up an injury update on Nico O’Reilly when he often opts for caution, and seemed completely at ease with what is in front of him.

There is a sense at City that they have found their rhythm, that the team is settled and in sync, and that they are in the best possible place heading into the final few weeks of an absorbing campaign.

Few gave City a chance of winning the league this year. Last season was way below par and they lost two of their first three this term. Liverpool set the early pace but quickly fell away and ever since it’s looked Arsenal’s to lose. It still is.

But the Gunners have looked frayed and frazzled in recent weeks, suffering a Carabao Cup final reverse to City and then exiting the FA Cup to Championship side Southampton. Defeat at Bournemouth followed in the Premier League and while the Gunners remain in the Champions League having progressed to a second successive semi-final, they were far from convincing in edging past Sporting Lisbon 1-0 on aggregate.

Mikel Arteta seemed calm enough in his media duties on Friday, engaging in a couple of jokes with journalists and insisting his side will not spend ‘one single second’ thinking about taking a draw at a place where they haven’t won in a decade.

City have had a full week on the training ground with no European commitments and the mood in the camp has been relaxed but buoyant. There is a confidence in the group that they are now comfortable with each other after 18 months of rebuilding.

And yet there is an acceptance that even in three superb victories over Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, aspects of all three matches could have been better. But the manner in which they took the game away from those sides in devastating fashion has raised belief levels.

“We are ready,” declared Guardiola in the build-up. So is the Etihad, the Premier League and the football world.

Sunday could see one team’s title aspirations go up in smoke.

Whether it was a snowy Friday giving way to a sunny Saturday or the playoff vibes from the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche spilling over, the Mile High Magic was palpable across the city today.

For the cherry on top of a wonderful sports day in Denver, the Colorado Rockies got the best of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 4-3 rollercoaster of a win.

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Runs early and often

It was a good night if you bet YRFI.

Starting pitchers Ryan Feltner and Emmet Sheehan brought a pair of high ERAs into their matchup today (7.30 and 6.60, respectively). That showed as the scoreboard was lit up immediately in the first inning.

That’s sadly not out of character for the Rockies, who have given up 161 runs in the first inning since the start of last season — the most in MLB.

To start off the evening, Shohei Ohtani reached first base after a throwing error by Troy Johnston on the first pitch. Kyle Tucker followed immediately with a home run on the second pitch of the game, giving the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead.

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The Rockies responded in the bottom of the inning. Mickey Moniak doubled to center and was brought home with a line-drive single from TJ Rumfield to bring the game to 2-1.

The Dodgers and Rockies would notch one more run each in the second inning. L.A.’s came on a Dalton Rushing homer knocked right above the out-of-town scoreboard in right on a 78 MPH curveball from Feltner. The Rockies’ run came after Johnston put himself in scoring position with a line-drive single, a stolen base, and a move to third on a Brenton Doyle ground out. Johnston ultimately came home on a Kyle Karros sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 Trolley Dodgers.

Pitchers dueling

That “early and often” hot start dried up pretty quickly. Despite some scattered chances, the offensive action calmed down and yielded scoreless third, fourth, and fifth innings as both pitchers found their rhythm.

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After walking Freddie Freeman in the top of the third, Feltner sat down eight straight batters. Among those eight, Feltner struck out Teoscar Hernández, Alex Freeland, and Andy Pages. Feltner looked in command of his four-seam fastball in particular across those punch outs. He also got a fly out to left from Ohtani, dropping Ohtani to 1-10 against Feltner across their last encounters.

Sheehan walked a couple of baserunners and gave up a double in the fourth inning, but otherwise looked sharp. He gathered strikeouts against Hunter Goodman, Brenton Doyle, and Edouard Julien across those three innings.

Feltner’s streak came to an end on a Freeman triple in the top of the sixth. Lucky for him, Karros would save a run with an incredible diving grab to stop a ball driven down the third base line, throwing out Hernández at first.

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Following that, Brennan Bernardino came in to relieve Feltner with two outs and Freeman on third. Feltner finished his day with five strikeouts, five hits, and three runs surrendered via two home runs.

The Rockies got rolling

Despite a 1-2-3 fifth inning from Sheehan, the Dodgers pulled him at 77 pitches, swapping in Will Klein. That did not go well.

The Rockies immediately pounced with a Goodman double to deep center. Up next, Ezequiel Tovar singled with a ball banked off of Klein over to Freeman, with Tovi winning the foot race to first. Johnston brought those two in with a double to center for his team-leading 10th RBI, giving the Rockies their first glorious lead over the Dodgers in what felt like an eternity.

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Klein would get the next three batters out to keep Johnston at second and to limit the damage at 4-3 Rockies.

Catching a crazy eighth

The top of the eighth inning got a little dicey for the Rockies, with much of the commotion centered around Goodman behind the dish.

Jaden Hill replaced Bernardino to kick off the inning with the Dodgers back at the top of the order. Hill worked to an 0-2 count against Ohtani. In an at-bat that looked like it might end in another Ohtani out, Goodman was called for catcher interference as hit glove bumped Ohtani’s swing, putting the batter on first.

Tucker singled next, putting two men on with no outs. Just when things felt like they were about to get worse, Goodman redeemed himself with a wonderful ABS challenge, overturning a ball and sitting Pages down on strikes.

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Freeman flied out to center next, moving Ohtani and Tucker up a base. In a tense at-bat for Hernández, the Rockies would challenge a pitch again, but this time unsuccessfully. Hernández walked to load the bases.

Hill responded extremely well to cap off a nice relief pitching performance, throwing two strikes to Max Muncy before getting him to ground out on a changeup to end the (very stressful) inning.

No insurance needed

The Rockies wouldn’t get any insurance runs in the bottom of the eight, but luckily they wouldn’t need them (although that would have reduced some ninth inning stress).

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Victor Vodnik came in to close out the ninth, trying for his third save of the season. He sat Rushing and Hyeseong Kim out quickly. With two outs, Will Smith singled on a nice hit to second that made for a just-difficult-enough throw for Julien.

Santiago Espinal came in to pinch run and Ohtani got his first hit of the night to move the runner to second. With the game on the line, the energy in Coors felt exciting in a way it hasn’t felt too often is recent years. Tucker sent a routine flyball to left field, and Vodnik got his save.

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A winning recipe

There was a lot to be proud of for the Rockies today. Namely, the Rockies looked resilient.

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Feltner settled down after a shaky start. The bullpen was flawless in relief. Hits and baserunners came when they were needed most. Scoring chances were converted. Key defensive plays swung the game in Colorado’s favor.

It had been a rough week in the wake of a sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres and a series loss to the Houston Astros. After a 7-1 loss last night, it felt like an uphill battle to steal even one from Los Angeles.

The Dodgers were 10-0 against the National League this season. Emphasis: were. Your Colorado Rockies just served up a tally mark in the L column.

The Rockies are having fun!

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First and foremost, it’s Dinger Day at the ballpark! Our favorite purple dino and all of his friends will try to bring some good vibes and even better luck to the matchup.

The Rockies and Dodgers square off for Game 3 of the wraparound series at 1:10 p.m. MT. Roki Sasaki (0-2, 6.23 ERA) is scheduled to start for Los Angeles, while Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 8.10) is slated to go for Colorado. The Rockies will try to take the series lead in a Sunday matinee matchup.

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Local handler Pat Carey has rid himself of the longstanding Hareeba Stakes curse as Recon produced a spectacular finishing kick to prevail at Mornington.

For years, the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) had eluded Carey despite persistent attempts, such as the 2006 second place with Kelthorpe and third by Dan Zephyr a decade later.

Another 10 years elapse, granting the stable of Pat Carey and Harris Walker the signature sprint on Mornington Cup Day via Recon.

Ridden by Patrick Moloney, the $4.80 shot Recon stormed to a 1-½ length success ahead of $4.40 top pick La Fracas, followed half a length back by $10 Pop Award in third.

“This race has been a bit of a thorn in my side,” Carey said.

“We’ve had plenty of goes at this race, so it’s nice to win this race today.

“I’ve run a number of placings in it but Recon has always shown good ability.

“Steve Watkins, who owns him and bred him, always felt he was one of his better horses he has had and he’s had a number of good horses including Abaridy who won a Caulfield Guineas.

“He got shuffled back to nearly last at one point just before the corner, but Pat didn’t panic and brought him out wide and gave him a clear run.

“He’s done nothing wrong since coming down to Melbourne, and he’s got a bit bigger and bit stronger. He’s still a lightly raced horse and he’s still learning his trade and open to good improvement.”

Upon transferring to Mornington after the Epsom Training Centre’s closure last century, Carey acquired the stalls previously occupied by Ken Newman, trainer of Hareeba.

“When Kenny wound down his training operation, I took over his stalls and I daresay the stall Recon sits in everyday is Hareeba’s old stall,” Carey said.

Carey plans to digest the Saturday result before eyeing Recon’s future targets, with six victories in 11 starts to his name.

“I haven’t thought about anything other than today,” Carey said.

“He’s a lightly raced horse and there’s lots of races for a horse like him this year, next year and hopefully the year after.”

Visit premier betting sites to access racing odds for Hareeba Stakes events.

Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a brilliant win over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling IPL 2026 encounter in Hyderabad on Saturday. CSK looked well on course for victory during their 195-run chase but Nitish Kumar Reddy and Eshan Malinga took five wickets among themselves to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat. The magnitude and importance of the victory was quite clear from SRH owner Kavya Maran’s reaction after the victory. In a video going viral on social media, Kavya Maran looked extremely excited as her team emerged victorious and she celebrated by punching the air and clapping for the players.

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan couldn’t have been more pleased with a group of young pacers, who are executing the bowling plans to the ‘T.

SRH ENTERS TOP 4 OF IPL POINTS TABLE.

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– An animated celebration by Kavya Maran.pic.twitter.com/kPm109cPtU

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 18, 2026

Chasing 195, Chennai Super Kings were kept down to 184 for 8 as pacers Eshan Malinga (3/29 in 4 overs), Sakib Hussain (1/32 in 4 overs), Nitish Reddy (2/31 in 4 overs) and spinner Shivang Kumar (1/18 in 3 overs) were bang on target.

“It is lovely when you have a bunch of young bowlers who are coming up with their own plans and executing the team plans as well. As a captain, it makes my job easier to set fields,” Kishan said after the end of the match.

With Pat Cummins not available during first half, Kishan was happy to trust the young bunch.

“Looking at them at practice, seeing them get better day by day, they are keen on doing well, so you give them ball and let them do what they want to,” he said.

While he was happy with bowling, Kishan conceded that on this batting track, SRH were at least 20 runs short but bowlers covered for the batters.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said that not having big overs at the start of the back-10 dented their chances.

“It was just about 80 runs needed in 10 overs (with the bat). From there it was just about building a couple of partnerships. We scored just 4 runs in the next 2 overs after the 10-over mark. Chasing 12-13 at the death is going to be difficult,” said Gaikwad.

He lauded the bowlers for keeping SRH below 200.

“Looking at how their powerplay went, I was looking at a score around 220-230. To pull it back by 30 runs, I would have taken it any day under 200. It’s been three successive games that the bowling unit has been doing really well.

“Even the powerplay today I thought Abhishek played brilliantly. I think everyone did a good job (with the ball),” he added. 

(With PTI inputs)

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IPL 2026 News | Shami’s Sensation Leads Lucknow to First Win of Season

A bizarre incident took place during the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 season. Quetta Gladiators announced Sri Lanka batter Dinesh Chandimal as a direct replacement for New Zealand all-rounder Bevon Jacobs in the middle of the tournament, with the latter set to join his national side. Incredibly, however, both Chandimal and Jacobs played together in Quetta Gladiators’ game against Lahore Qalandars on Friday. The franchise later attempted to clarify how the confusing incident took place, despite an official announcement having already been made.

After the match, Nabeel Hashmi, the General Manager of Quetta Gladiators, tried to reason why Chandimal and Jacobs played together.

Hashmi responded to a fan’s question on social media, stating that English pacer Tom Curran suffered an untimely illness, forcing Chandimal and Jacobs to both play.

“Tom Curran was unwell and had to stay back in hotel. Chandimal came in for Tom in this particular match,” Hashmi wrote on X.

Tom Curran was unwell and had to stay back in hotel.

Chandimal came in for Tom in this particular match. https://t.co/PbvmQZBuI4

— Nabeel Hashmi (@iNabeelHashmi) April 17, 2026

The explanation was met by criticism from several other fans on social media, with some questioning the legality of such a manoeuvre and others trolling the move.

In PSL it is allowed to mark a player ill and make activate a replacements. I think this is not a good way to run a league. There are time when teams carry injured players. In 2023 cricket world cup kane Williamson hand got injured still replacement wasn’t made.

— Syed Hassnain Shah (@Hassnain246) April 17, 2026

So it means you can have 8 or more OS players in your squad and make one player “injure” and play another, ridiculous rule tbh

— odin (@odin_is_here) April 17, 2026

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Unwell does not qualify u to play with PSL rules. U already have other players to choose from

— YASIR NISAR SYED (@YasirNisarSyed) April 17, 2026

Hahahaha what a joke.

— BurgerBacha 2.0 (@CRICKETBACHA) April 17, 2026

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What makes the replacement announcement even more intriguing is that Jacobs’ international duties with New Zealand are still more than a week away, beginning from April 27.

Quetta Gladiators went on to win their game against Lahore Qalandars quite comfortably, in what was a rematch of the PSL 2025 final. Lahore Qalandars won the toss and opted to bat, but were skittled out for just 134 in 19.5 overs. Spinner Usman Tariq, who was in the headlines during the T20 World Cup 2026 for his controversial bowling action, picked up three wickets.

In response, South African batter Rilee Rossouw slammed an unbeaten 60, anchoring Quetta Gladiators to victory with 3.4 overs to spare. Chandimal and Bevon Jacobs both batted, with the latter at the crease as his side won the game.

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Delhi vs Mumbai IPL 2026: Fans Flood Arun Jaitley Stadium for High-Voltage Clash

In talking about the Masters Champions Dinner menu, there are two groups of folks. There are the Masters champions who eat its contents with fork, knife and spoon. 

And there are those who poke and prod it. 

With that, we bring you an exchange this week on “The Steam Room” show, hosted by announcer Ernie Johnson and basketball hall of famer-golf junkie Charles Barkley. They’d been asked what they would put on their menu — and what Barkley thought of this year’s, which was developed by Rory McIlroy. Video of the answers is below, and below that are some thoughts. 

“>

Before we get to that, here is McIlroy’s complete menu: 

–There were four appetizers: peach and ricotta flatbread with balsamic, hot honey and basil; rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce; bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese and almonds; and grilled elk sliders with caramelized onion jam and roasted garlic aioli. 

–There was a first course: yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras, toasted baguette and chives. 

–There was a choice for the main course: Wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon. With either came traditional Irish champ, sauteed brussels sprouts, glazed carrots with brown butter and crispy vidalia onion rings. 

–There was a dessert: sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and warm toffee sauce. 

Barkley’s thoughts? He took issue with three items: 

–The peach and ricotta flatbread. “It’s a little too foo-foo for me,” he said. “… You got to have meat on your flatbread.”

–The bacon-wrapped dates. “Oh, come on. Stop it. That’s the only way you can up f**k up bacon.”

–The yellowfin tuna carpaccio. “That’s like really thinly like — yeah, no, no, no, no.” 

What about the main course? Barkley said this: “You know, I only eat tilapia. And there’s a couple other fish I eat, but not salmon. Branzino, I love branzino. And there’s one more I eat because fish is too fishy for me. I know that sounds stupid.”

And McIlroy’s dessert?  

“I don’t think you can go wrong with that,” Barkley said.

Here’s what Barkley would have:

–The main course? “I’ll take the fried chicken they got at the Masters. It’s some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life when I was there.” 

–Appetizers? Shrimp cocktail and crab cocktail. 

–What else? A Caesar salad, no anchovies. And “some type of vegetarian bulls**t.”

–Any seafood? A dover sole. 

–Dessert? Key lime pie and apple pie and vanilla ice cream.

Additional thoughts?

Said Johnson: “I don’t even know what to say.”

Said Barkley: “Yummy.”

“>

Earlier tonight at WrestleMania 42, Paige (fka Saraya) made her long-awaited return to WWE for the first time in almost four years. Could Tony Khan counter this move by bringing in a beloved name to AEW?

The former WWE Divas Champion came out tonight as Nikki Bella’s replacement, as she was unable to fight through her ankle injury. This was an incredible return, as in the end, she and Brie Bella would end up winning the women’s tag team titles.

AEW has a stacked women’s division, and there is no shortage of stars who could steal the show. But one name who they were once interested in has been making waves after making her in-ring return following her release from WWE last year. This would be Charlie (fka Dakota Kai).

Her match with Kris Statlander last month was highly talked about within the wrestling world. She also faced off with Shotzi Blackheart earlier this week on HOG. Seeing as she is more active in the ring, Tony Khan could end up offering her an AEW deal. The promotion was reportedly interested in her a few years ago, but she chose to return to WWE. Now they could finally bring her in.

The former WWE Superstar is open to going to either AEW or any other major promotion

A few months ago, Dakota Kai finally broke her silence on her wrestling future, as she remains a free agent.

While appearing on Busted Open Radio, she mentioned how she was open to joining either AEW or TNA, seeing as there are a lot of names on their rosters she would love to face. She revealed that she hadn’t given it much thought, but hopefully her return to the ring pushes her to go all the way and get back into wrestling fully.

“I think once I get back into it, both [AEW and TNA] and so many more have people that I would love to face in the ring. I haven’t really like pinpointed it down to any particular thing. I just think once I do this match [against Kris Statlander] and get the wheels turning again and doing all that, wherever my path may lead, I’m open to it completely,” she said. [H/T – WrestlePurist on X]

It has been a while since then, and seeing as she has been making appearances in the independent circuit, it may not be long before she signs with a major promotion. She continues to be well-liked among the fans, and it will be interesting to see how things go for her if she goes back to wrestling full-time.