Arne Slot accepted that Liverpool have dropped too many points in the Premier League after playing in the Champions League as they suffered another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top-five with defeat at Brighton.

Danny Welbeck’s double earned Brighton a deserved victory over Slot’s side, who became the first reigning Premier League champions to lose 10 games in a season since Chelsea in 2017-18.

The Reds have lost five games of their 10 games immediately after playing in Europe this season, winning four and drawing one, as they failed to back up Wednesday’s big win over Galatasaray to reach the quarter-finals.

Already without Mohamed Salah and goalkeeper Alisson to injuries, Liverpool lost Hugo Ekitike to a dead leg following a heavy collision with James Milner in the opening five minutes and they were outworked by an energetic Brighton team who were fully deserving of their fourth win in five games.

“It is clear that we have lost a lot of points after playing in Europe,” Slot told TNT Sports. “I have tried to explain a lot of times already why this is but today we also have to give credit to Brighton. In the second half, they were the better team on the pitch.

“What I thought [before the game], is you won’t need 24 points to qualify [from the final eight games of the season] and hopefully I am right because we aren’t able to get 24 points anymore.

“We kept trying. In the second half we were close but they were closer to score the third one than we were the second one. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough after a week like this.”

Slot said losing Ekitike so early in the game was a “big blow” and Liverpool will be desperate to get as many players as possible back fit after the international break for the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City, which will be followed by the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

But Liverpool also risk slipping from the Premier League’s top five after a run of three games without a win. While the impressive nature of Liverpool’s win over Galatasaray had lifted the mood following the defeat at bottom club Wolves and 1-1 draw with struggling Tottenham, there is pressure on Slot again ahead of a crucial stretch of the season.

“There is always pressure at Liverpool, on me, on the players,” Slot said. “That is completely normal. We have qualified for the quarter finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League, but in the league we need to make sure that in the end we qualify for the Champions League.

“As much as I dislike us losing here today, Brighton away has always been a difficult one and will always be a difficult one as long as they keep bringing in so many good players.

“But there are other games where we should have picked up more points, like last week against Tottenham. That is far more unacceptable than this. But even away at Brighton, a club like Liverpool should be able to get a result.”

The intensity of Brighton’s display stood in contrast to Liverpool’s lethargic showing, with Steven Gerrard questioning why Slot did not make more changes to freshen up his side. The former captain said Liverpool’s performance felt predictable.

“The performance wasn’t good enough, but you can almost feel that this performance and this result was coming,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.

“Liverpool get a couple of injuries to key players like Salah, Allison, on the back of midweek, the manager speaking about maybe the lack of energy they might have, and then you look at Brighton’s plans to come and try and play a game with that intensity and that speed, that energy.

“We’ve seen it quite a few times this season now, where they put in a lot of effort and they perform really well in the Champions League. “There’s all the emotion and all the energy and the intensity they have to put in to win those or get a result.

“It’s having a big effect on them at the weekend. They haven’t got the options in the squad or on the bench to make numerous changes, to bring that energy and that quality into the team to perform at the same level they do in midweek.

“Liverpool made a couple of changes that were forced on them, but the manager wanted to keep the team rather than make changes for energy, and it backfired today. Brighton deserved the win overall, and a big opportunity missed for Liverpool.”

The Carabao Cup final has never had so much on the line, a weight that can be sensed in the very shifts in moods. Over the build-up, Pep Guardiola has been trying to figure out a few things. Does he go more attacking, as Manchester City have been doing recently, or repeat the constrained approach from drawing 1-1 with Arsenal in September? If the former, is it with this open midfield that he has been trying, or was Real Madrid too much of a lesson? What would such an approach in a marquee game even say?

Such variables give a tactical obsessive like Mikel Arteta a lot to think about, but he is at least sure of his own structure. That won’t shift. The main question will be over personnel, and how much that changes the emphasis of the team; whether it’s Riccardo Calafiori or Piero Hincapie at left-back, for example. Martin Odegaard is expected to return to the bench, and Jurrien Timber may start.

Arsenal, in short, have a lot less to think about. That is very different to when the two sides qualified for this final, way back at the start of February. At that point, the trophy was seen as psychologically crucial to Arsenal sustaining both momentum and the idea of superiority over City, a key part of the wider pursuit for the first Premier League title in 22 years. The weight was all the greater since it had looked like this final could be the first in a grand and unprecedented English series, maybe four or five matches to decide everything.

The very week before the final has put paid to that. City have already been eliminated from the Champions League in that match against Madrid, which followed a frustrated 1-1 draw at West Ham to allow Arsenal an even greater gap in the title race.

Their hopes in the Premier League haven’t gone yet, but their aura has. The old City sense of foreboding isn’t there.

This Arsenal team may badly need to win their first trophy together, but it doesn’t quite feel as essential when this City don’t look like the trophy machine of before.

As such, there’s been a twist before the game starts. It now feels like this Carabao Cup final is bigger for City than it is for Arsenal.

That would have sounded absurd for most of the season – and the past few years – especially with how Guardiola has repeatedly subjected his former assistant to second places, but that’s how this season is going. The fact everyone is talking about this being the City manager’s last season, which the club still describe as “speculation”, only adds to that. Guardiola certainly won’t want to leave on a barren campaign, in any case.

Winning a fourth Carabao Cup for the coach and a historic ninth for City would be valuable in and of itself, but more significant is what it might do for everything else. It would be a reminder to Arsenal of what the order has been. It would put the league leaders back in their box, after a period when City haven’t even beaten Arteta’s side in three years.

Maybe most crucial of all, however, is that it would create new doubt for Arsenal just at the point when confidence is building; when Max Dowman seems to have helped banish all the angst. Talk of the quadruple is tentatively rising. This could swiftly end that, but do more. If the six-year wait for silverware were to go on that bit longer, into at least May, it creates greater space for collapse.

This is nevertheless the prospect facing City, too. To see two trophies disappear in two matches, alongside the increasing distance to top spot, could be debilitating. From that, if City were to lose on Sunday, it isn’t impossible that they could fall apart.

Duly, City have constantly looked a team on a thin line on the actual pitch. It is like almost every game can go either way. There are spells when spectacular attacking is suggested, only for a defensive fallibility to immediately be exposed. City often sublime and ridiculous in the same five minutes of football, as was seen against Madrid.

Much will depend on the mood going into this game, which is said to be one of focus and trying to remind everyone of the force that this team has been. Down at Arsenal’s Colney base, a mere 13 miles from Wembley, a first final since the 2020 FA Cup win is being downplayed. There is a calmness, which many say has been welcome. This season has been characterised by ramping up most of the matches, after all. Perhaps a softening mood is also natural, given this is a break from all the noise around the title.

The greater gap in the league, of course, helps that, especially as Arsenal now know they will be nine points ahead of City until 12 April at the earliest. It was why last weekend was so crucial. Of course, this weekend might end up being seen as even more crucial, depending on how it goes.

Arsenal right now feel good about the title race, but that can dramatically change if their main chasers beat them, to once more shift that momentum. Out of that, this is yet another Carabao Cup final that is cast as being about more than the Carabao Cup, as so many are. It is about what it can mean for the future.

That’s partly why Newcastle United’s win last year was so distinctive, since it was about the trophy alone. You arguably have to go back to Swansea City in 2013 for similar.

Consequently, as regards Arsenal, you don’t really need to read the same old lines about how Chelsea’s 2005 victory invigorated the Jose Mourinho era, or Brian Clough’s quote about how the Anglo-Scottish Cup gave his great Nottingham Forest team “a shot of something positive that only a trophy, whatever it is, can bring”. The times are different. The situation is different.

This is nevertheless the first League Cup final involving both of the top two since 1978, and a meeting between Liverpool and that Forest team. Clough’s side won to eventually complete a League Cup and title double.

That season was the first time the feat was managed, and both City and Arsenal are hoping to make this the 12th. City have already managed it four times, with Guardiola responsible for three of those.

As befits the occasion in the modern era, however, both sides are also going for more. City are aiming for a domestic treble. Arsenal are going for the quadruple. The League Cup has never had so much on the line, which marks quite a shift. The final itself may well mark another.

In 33 days, you will learn the identity of the Minnesota Vikings’ 1st-Round draft pick, assuming interim general manager Rob Brzezinski doesn’t trade out of the pick. And after free agency, in addition to the NFL Combine, the purple team has a few clear draft frontrunners.

Minnesota’s pick at No. 18 still points heavily toward defense in late April.

Minnesota will pick 18th on draft night — April 23rd — and all signs point to a defensive player that evening out of the gate.

Four Names Rising to the Top of Minnesota’s Draft Board

Ranked in ascending order, these men are most likely to end up with the Vikings in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft (No. 1 = current draft frontrunner).

4. Peter Woods (DT) | Clemson

Woods ranks 21st on the current Consensus Big Board. He’s the top defensive tackle, according to the draft community, and within the last two weeks, the Vikings have said sayonara to Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, their two starting DTs from last season.

The clues hint toward an interior defensive lineman somewhat early in the draft. If that assumption is correct, the clearest path to minimize risk — the other highly-touted DT prospect is Florida’s Caleb Banks, who’s injured and carries a “boom or bust” draft reputation — is Woods.

Think of it this way: if the Vikings stick-and-pick at No. 18 and they want a defensive tackle, Woods will probably become a Viking on April 23rd.

3. Emmanuel McNeill-Warren (S) | Toledo

This would likely be the “trade down” method. Some say the 2026 draft’s sweet spot is the 2nd and 3rd Rounds. There’s a world where Minnesota agrees to trade the 18th overall pick to a team like the Kansas City Chiefs or the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a couple of 3rd-Rounders.

Then, Brzezinski could pick McNeill-Warren from Toledo, nominate him as the long-term Harrison Smith replacement plan, and feast on two extra 3rd-Rounders.

It’s worth noting that some fans will wince over a trade-back-then-draft-a-safety arrangement. That plan flopped in 2022 when former boss Kwesi Adofo-Mensah swung and missed on Lewis Cine.

2. Avieon Terrell (CB) | Clemson

In the last 10 years, the Vikings have drafted these cornerbacks:

• Mackensie Alexander
• Mekhi Blackmon
• Andrew Booth
• Kris Boyd
• Cameron Dantzler
• Akayleb Evans
• Jeff Gladney
• Harrison Hand
• Mike Hughes
• Khyree Jackson

Two passed away. Others were not cut out for long-term sustainability in the NFL. And none secured a second contract with the Vikings, aside from Alexander, who returned for a one-year stint after venturing elsewhere.

Write this down: Minnesota is unusually overdue to connect on a cornerback draft pick — of any kind.

Terrell ranks 22nd on the Consensus Big Board. LSU’s Mansoor Delane will probably be the first corner drafted, but after him, Terrell to Minnesota checks some boxes if the franchise is ready to dream big at cornerback after all the tragedies and failures.

Pro Football Focus‘s Max Chadwick mocked Terrell to Minnesota earlier this month and noted, “The Vikings have finished outside the top 15 of team PFF coverage grade in each of the past six seasons and need plenty of help in their secondary. Terrell’s 90.6 PFF overall grade over the past two seasons ranked fifth among Power Four cornerbacks.”

1. Dillon Thieneman (S) | Oregon

If you’re a human, and you’re publishing an NFL mock draft right now, a mysterious force overtakes your hand, guiding the mouse to Thieneman’s name at the Vikings’ No. 18 spot. Those are the rules; the galaxy demands it.

That’s how frequent and fervent the Thieneman buzz is for the Vikings right now — every mainstream mock draft connects him to the purple team.

Thieneman fired up an NFL Combine for the ages, and he’s become a rapid riser, once on deck for Round 2 placement but now shoved into Round 1, usually at the Vikings’ spot. He ran a 4.35 forty in Indianapolis and nailed all the drills.

The Draft Network‘s Keith Sanchez on Thieneman to Minnesota: “This pick just seems to align perfectly. The Minnesota Vikings just saw safety Harrison Smith retire from the NFL, and now they have a hole at the position. Dillon Thieneman is coming off of one of the best NFL Combine performances in recent memory, which elevated his draft stock. Thieneman can come right in and fill a need defensively.”

No matter what Harrison Smith decides about retirement or a return, Minnesota could draft Thieneman in Round 1 and call it good.

It would be preposterous as of March 21st to suggest Thieneman is not the Vikings’ mock-draft darling. He’s everywhere.

The ninth-seeded Texas Christian Horned Frogs meet the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament East Region on Saturday. TCU advanced with a 66-64 win over eighth-seeded Ohio State on Thursday, while Duke survived with a 71-65 victory over 16th-seeded Siena. The Horned Frogs (23-11), who finished sixth in the Big 12 at 11-7, have won seven of their past eight games. The Blue Devils (33-2), who won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season (17-1) and tournament titles, have won 12 games in a row. Duke is without Caleb Foster (foot), while center Patrick Ngongba (foot) is questionable. 

Tipoff from Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., is set for 5:15 p.m. ET. Duke is a 12.5-point favorite in the latest TCU vs. Duke odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 140.5. Before making any TCU vs. Duke picks, check out the TCU vs. Duke predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It entered the 2026 NCAA Tournament on a sizzling 11-1 run on its top-rated over/under college basketball picks dating back to last season, and is on a 28-22 run on top-rated CBB side picks. 

Now, the model has simulated TCU vs. Duke 10,000 times and just revealed its college basketball picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several college basketball odds and college basketball lines for Duke vs. TCU:

Top TCU vs. Duke predictions

After 10,000 simulations of TCU vs. Duke, SportsLine’s model is going Over on the total (140.5 points). The Over has hit in two of the last three TCU games, and in six of the last 10 Duke games. TCU is 8-2 against the spread in its last 10 games. Duke, meanwhile, is 6-4 ATS in its last 10.

The model projects the Horned Frogs to have two players score 11 or more points, including David Punch, who is projected to score 11.9 points. The Blue Devils are projected to have three players score 11.4 points or more, led by Cameron Boozer, who is projected to score 25 points. The model is projecting 148 combined points. You can get the spread pick at SportsLine.

How to make Duke vs. TCU picks

Now, the model simulated every possession of Duke vs. TCU 10,000 times and says one side of the spread hits well over 60% of the time. You can only see that pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Duke vs. TCU, and which side of the spread hits well over 60% of the time. Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the TCU vs. Duke spread to back, all from the advanced model that just simulated this game 10,000 times, and find out.

The reigning 2025 NBA champions won’t be making the traditional visit to the White House due to a timing issue. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are due to play the Washington Wizards on Saturday evening, but a team spokesperson said that despite talks with the White House, the team will not be celebrating with the president. 

Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the first half of Game 4 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 13, 2025. (Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

“We have been in touch with the White House, and we are appreciative and grateful for the communication we have had, but the timing just didn’t work out,” the team said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. 

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It was not immediately clear whether a formal invitation had been extended to the team. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for confirmation.

The White House has a long-standing tradition of welcoming championship teams to celebrate their achievements. On Friday, President Donald Trump invited the Navy Midshipmen following a historic season that culminated in winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.

President Donald Trump holds up a helmet as he speaks during the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy presentation with the Navy Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

TRUMP SAYS US WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM WILL ‘SOON’ VISIT WHITE HOUSE AFTER DECLINING SOTU INVITATION

Teams have declined a White House visit in the past. The most notable instance was in 2017 when the Golden State Warriors had their invitation withdrawn by Trump after Stephen Curry and other players indicated they were not interested in visiting.

Trump recently invited the U.S. men’s ice hockey team to the White House and the State of the Union after their gold medal victory over Canada at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. The women’s team was also invited amid controversy regarding a quip the president made during a call with the men’s team. 

The women’s team declined Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union, citing “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) holds the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy as he celebrates with his team after they won the NBA basketball championship with a Game 7 victory against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City.  (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” USA Hockey said in a statement. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Not often does a 6-foot-8 basketball player look small on the court, but that’s what the tallest college basketball player ever did on Friday night.

Florida’s Olivier Rioux entered the game late in the team’s dominant 114-55 win over No. 16 Prairie View A&M at Benchmark International Arena, and at 7-foot-9, he floored his opponents with his height.

Prairie View A&M forward Hassane Diallo, who stands at 6-foot-8, a full foot shorter than Rioux, went viral for sizing up the towering 20-year-old as he entered the game. Rioux was the world’s tallest teenager before his birthday last month.

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Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) and Prairie View A&M Panthers forward Hassane Diallo (11) look on during a first-round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Mar. 20, 2026. (Matt Pendleton/Imagn Images)

Rioux has been little used throughout the year as he continues to develop, but has become a fan favorite in short order. Whenever the Gators are up big late in games, the Florida crowd chants Rioux’s name at head coach Todd Golden, wanting to see the tall center in action.

Rioux sent the crowd into a frenzy when he checked into the game with about two minutes left. He sent them into even further hysteria when he slammed home a put-back dunk for his first career NCAA tournament points, as fans rained down “Oli! Oli!” chants.

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Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) dunks the ball in the second half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers during a first-round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Mar. 20, 2026. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)

Florida’s victory was historic, as the 59-point margin of victory was the second-largest in NCAA tournament history.

Prairie View A&M was down 30 points when head coach Byron Smith was asked by the TNT broadcast during a midgame interview what it would take to slow down Florida.

“We need some help from the Lord,” Smith replied.

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Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) looks on in the second half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers during a first-round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Mar. 20, 2026. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)

Prairie View A&M did not end up getting any help from above, as the defending champions steamrolled their way into the second round.

No. 1 Florida will play No. 9 Iowa on Sunday at 7:10 p.m. ET, when Gator fans hope for another chance to see Rioux in action.

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Halftime Observations

• Bayern were patient enough to find gaps in this stubborn Union Berlin side, and were rewarded with two goals.

• Serge Gnabry appears to be more comfortable in the middle rather than out wide.

• The long pass game by Bayern has been causing all sorts of problems for Union.

• Michael Olise continues to be the danger man for Bayern. Biggest coup of the century, full stop.

45+2′ Halftime!

45+1′ – TOR! Gnabry pounces on a loose ball in the box and makes it 2-0 Bayern!

45′ – One minute of stoppage time is added on.

43′ – TOR! Michael Olise finally breaks the deadlock!

42′ – Stanisic does well but the shot was lacking; in essence, a missed sitter.

40′ – Olise and Kane both miss great chances to score.

38′ – Kane’s freekick goes too high on his freekick.

37′ – Danilho Doekhi clips Gnabry outside the box, concedes a freekick, and receives a yellow card.

35′ – Kim Min-jae lobs the ball for Olise, who couldn’t control it and goes out of play.

33′ – Jannik Haberer this time fouls Gnabry outside the box, but isn’t booked.

30′ – Leopold Querfeld fouls Olise just outside the box and gets booked.

29′ – Josip Stanisic plays a square ball to Karl but his shot hits the post and back into play. There seems to be a hint of offside too.

23′ – Bayern deflect an Union freekick behind for a corner. The ensuing corner leads to nothing.

21′ – Serge Gnabry’s shot goes well wide.

16′ – Joshua Kimmich and Lennart Karl combine on the right, but Karl’s shot is saved by Frederik Ronnow.

9′ – Michael Olise plays a ball over the top for Harry Kane, but the latter couldn’t direct the ball into the goal.

3′ – Dayot Upamecano gets an early yellow card.

Kickoff! – We are off!

Lineups are out!