Sport
April 2026 Sports Calendar: Biggest Events
April is a significant month in the sporting calendar, with notable sports betting events taking place.
Football, Horse Racing, Golf and Basketball fans alike have lots to look forward to, with major dates in their respective calendars circled in April. Let’s take a look at what the month has to offer.
Champions League Quarter-finals
The Champions League quarter finals get underway on the 7th, with Bayern Munich travelling to the Bernabeu in the first leg to face Real Madrid after knocking out Atalanta on an aggregate score of 10-2 in the Round of 16. Real Madrid progressed to the quarter finals after beating Premier League team Manchester city in both legs of the Round of 16. However, with first choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois picking up an injury during the second leg of the Round of 16, Madrid are likely to use second choice goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, leaving Bayern Munich favourites to win the first leg at 11/10.
Arsenal take on Sporting after a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg saw them through. Sporting, however, managed to pull back from a 3-0 loss in the first leg to win 5-0 at home in the second against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt. Arsenal are looking like favourites going into the quarter finals, even after their loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, with odds of 5/6.
It’s a big game for Liverpool on the 8th of April as they face PSG in the first leg of the quarter-finals. With question marks over Arne Slot’s future, the Dutchman will be pulling out all the stops to ensure Liverpool progress to the semi-finals. However, Slot’s side are looking like the underdogs at odds of 5/2. PSG put on a dominant display against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, winning 3-0 to take the aggregate score in that tie to 8-2. They look almost unstoppable at the moment and are unsurprisingly 10/11 favourites at home in the first leg.
Then there’s a battle of two La Liga sides where top of the league Barcelona take on Atletico Madrid, who actually lost in the second leg of the round of 16 against Spurs, but made it to the quarter finals on aggregate. Barcelona are strong favourites to give themselves the upper hand in the first leg at 11/20.
Grand National Festival
All eyes are on Aintree between 9th-11th April as the 2026 Grand National Festival gets underway. Over the three days there will be a host of Graded races and hotly-contested handicaps, all culminating in the biggest National Hunt race of the year.
34 runners will line up for the Grand National on Saturday 11th at 4pm, with Nick Rockett bidding to defend his crown. He is currently a 20/1 chance, with the market headed by 2024 winner I Am Maximus at 8/1.
The Masters
The 2026 Masters will begin on Thursday 9th April at Augusta National Golf Club. From there, four days of attention-gripping golf will take place, all concluding on the afternoon of Sunday 12th April.
Scottie Scheffler, the current 4/1 favourite to win the Masters, has announced his withdrawal from the Texas Children’s Housten Open just weeks before the event. Rory Mcllroy (8/1) is of course a top contender for this year’s Masters after completing the Career Grand Slam last year. Justin Rose is also set to seek his revenge against McIlroy after he lost in a Masters playoff last year and he can’t be dismissed at 22/1.
NBA Playoffs
The NBA playoffs begin on 18th April. With only a couple of weeks left of the regular NBA season, the likes of Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons sit comfortably at the top of their conference tables and are set to solidify their place in the play offs.
As it stands, the Thunder are 6/5 favourites to make it back-to-back NBA Championships, followed by San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics at 11/2.
Manchester City vs Arsenal
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City host league-leaders Arsenal in a clash that will have a huge impact on who will lift this season’s Premier League title. For City, it’s a must-win fixture if they want to have any chance of catching the Gunners, who currently sit nine points clear at the top, albeit having played an additional game.
Mikel Arteta will have had this fixture earmarked since the start of the season, and taking three points away from the Etihad would surely secure Arsenal’s first title in over 20 years. For the neutral, it’s going to be one of the greatest Premier League spectacles in recent years, which could realistically go either way.
