ERLING Haaland has sparked pregnancy rumours with a “baby bump” pic posted after he broke a 90-year goal record.

The 24-year-old Manchester City striker posted a picture on X of himself sucking his left thumb and with a ball under his jersey.

1

Above the picture were baby and coming soon emojis which have sparked rumours that Haaland was teasing that he is about to become a dad.

It comes after the Prem star broke a longstanding record last night.

The Manchester City striker scored in the seventh and 62nd minutes of Norway‘s 3-0 win over Slovenia in the Nations League on Thursday to move onto 34 international goals.

That’s one more than the late Jorgen Juve on Norway’s list of record scorers.

Juve, on 33 goals, held the record since the 1930s.

Haaland has played only 36 games for Norway but has managed to shatter the record.

The Man City hitman is on course to break all kinds of records if he continues his incredible scoring rate.

He has also notched 256 in 308 appearances in club football.

Haaland could add to his record goals tally for Norway when they take on Austria in more Nations League action on Sunday night.

The former Borussia Dortmund star will then return to City for their Premier League trip to Wolves on October 20.

A number of veterans have been removed from the UFC roster including one-time interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux.

The full list of names removed from the roster also includes Brian Kelleher, Ricky Glenn, Victor Altamirano, Da Woon Jung, Kaynan Kruschewsky, Brianna Fortino, Victoria Leonardo, Karl Williams, Danyelle Wolf and Jarno Errens,

The fighters removed from the roster were either released or their contracts came to an end and the UFC opted not to re-sign them to a new promotional contract at this time. The changes were first noted by the UFC Roster Tracker on Twitter.

For Saint Preux, his UFC run comes to an end after he spent the past 11 plus years with the UFC after he first made a name for himself in Strikeforce. The former University of Tennessee football player faced a laundry list of top fighters over the years and scored victories over many of them including a head kick knockout over current Bellator champion Corey Anderson and a pair of wins against UFC Hall of Famer Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

In 2016, Saint Preux welcomed Jon Jones back to the octagon following more than a year long layoff in an interim light heavyweight title fight but he ultimately lost a unanimous decision after five rounds.

In his most recent fight, Saint Pruex suffeed a submission loss to Ryan Spann in the final bout on his contract, which precipitated his exit from the UFC.

Meanwhile, Kelleher is another notable name on the list after he spent the past seven years in the UFC while competing in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Always willing to take on whatever challenge thrown his way, Kelleher took on many top fighters during his run with the UFC but his time with the organization came to a close after four straight losses including fights against Umar Nurmagomedov and former champion Cody Garbrandt.

The fighters removed from the roster are now free to sign with any organization.

There was an element of Carsley giving the public what they wanted with this potential thrill-ride of a teamsheet. They did not want it by the final whistle, judging by thousands of empty seats and the resounding boos.

Carsley’s courage in attempting it was commendable but from the first whistle it was exposed as folly.

The general feeling was that this was Carsley’s England job to lose, the Football Association preferring another graduation from the Under-21 production line that delivered Southgate, one also used to great effect by countries such as Spain, with coach Luis de la Fuente taking that same path to success with the seniors at Euro 2024.

This may not be the night Carsley lost the England job but the shoddy show that so disappointed Wembley will do nothing to help him win it.

Carsley, in the aftermath, made it clear he has never taken it for granted that the role would be his, even appearing to suggest he would be glad to have a job to return to with the Under-21s.

“I was quite surprised after the last camp [that there was talk] in terms of ‘the job is mine’ and ‘it’s mine to lose’ and all the rest of it,” he said.

“My remit has been clear from the start – I’m doing three camps. There are three games left and then hopefully I’ll be going back to the Under-21s. It has almost no impact.”

Carsley added: “I never at any point thought that I have got it cracked. It was a case of let’s try something different and I’m happy to take blame for that. It was totally my idea.

“I thought about it long and hard, in terms how it might look, how it might build and how it might feel. It is something that didn’t come off but I don’t think we should rule out having that opportunity to try something different.”

He added: “We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield. We tried it for 20 minutes yesterday [Wednesday], we experimented and we’re disappointed it didn’t come off. It’s unrealistic to expect too much and we will have to try again. It’s definitely an option going forward.

“We tried something different. It doesn’t change anything. My remit is to do three camps.”

If there was a system, it almost impossible to detect what it was.

“Release the handbrake” was the cry for much of Southgate’s reign – on this night, the doors fell off and the engine exploded.

Jude Bellingham was in the false nine role but too often there were too many bodies around, with Phil Foden struggling to find any room to operate, while Cole Palmer could not make any impact in a deeper role. Gordon and Saka were ineffective on the flanks.

It left Declan Rice running around outnumbered trying to plug gaps, England’s vulnerable defence wide open time after time as possession was turned over, Greece scenting their chance.

The signs were bad from the opening minute when Bellingham was robbed, Greece broke and Pavlidis should have done much better than curl a shot wide. He was to make up for it later.

It all made for a night of confusion, from England’s chaotic game plan to Carsley’s messaging about his future in his current post.

England and Carsley will at least have the chance to deliver something approaching clarity when they travel to Helsinki to face Finland on Sunday.

Carsley’s ill-fated gamble means the stakes have just got higher. He is unlike to play such a high-risk game again any time soon.

Scotland’s Gary Anderson failed to reach the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester after a surprise 3-0 defeat by Mike de Decker.

Belgium’s De Decker, who is through to a first major quarter-final after averaging 96, won the opening three legs to claim the first set at a canter.

Anderson then claimed his first leg but De Decker held his throw twice before taking the second set with a clinical 120 finis.

De Decker then produced an impressive 160 checkout to edge towards victory in the third set before holding his throw to close out the match.

Speaking to Sky Sports, De Decker said: “It’s massive. I always had a problem bringing my floor game to the stage but it’s clicking this week and I hope I can keep this up.

“I’m just trying my best every single game. I’m not keen on all the attention and I’m just doing my thing.”

De Decker will face England’s James Wade, who saw off Welshman Gerwyn Price 3-0.

Wade closed out the first set with a double 10 before Price appeared to engineer a way back into the match at the start of the second – only to miss all three attempts at tops.

That allowed Wade a chance to capitalise – taking the first two legs and, while Price hit back to reduce the deficit, the Englishman won the set.

Price continued to struggle on the doubles in the third set but Wade remained ruthless as he claimed victory to progress into Friday’s quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, England’s Joe Cullen came from behind to edge a thriller with Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney 3-2.

Cullen trailed 2-1 before setting up a deciding set by taking the fourth with an impressive 79 finish, which included two double 18s.

The Englishman went 2-0 up in the final set before sealing victory with his fifth match dart to set-up a last-eight meeting with Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Belgium’s Van den Bergh lost the opening set to England’s Dave Chisnall but recovered to progress with a 3-1 victory after his sixth match dart at double top.

LEE CARSLEY’S tactical experiment of playing no strikers backfired as Vangelis Pavlidis’ double secured an emotional shock win for Greece at Wembley.

Interim England boss Carsley played all three of our nation’s gifted No10s – Phil Foden, Jue Bellingham and Cole Palmer – in varying positions.

But it did not work and the Greeks took a deserved lead thanks to Pavlidis’ belting second-half finish.

The visitors then held up a shirt in celebration bearing the name Baldock – in reference to their team-mate George Baldock, whose passing at the age of just 31 on Wednesday rocked the world of football.

Bellingham looked to have ensured the points were shared with a thunderous strike with three minutes to go.

But there was still time for Pavlidis to expose some woeful defending deep into injury time by firing past Jordan Pickford.

Here are SunSport’s player ratings from a dire night for England under the arch.

Jordan Pickford: 4

Wandered into no-man’s-land territory outside his box early on and lost the ball, allowing Greek skipper Tasos Baksetas a free shot at goal – only to be saved by Levi Colwill’s last-gasp clearance. Did not instil confidence, despite his experience.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6

Some tasty passes – they are his speciality, after all – but not great at the back. He, John Stones and Cole Palmer were weak in their attempt to close down Vangelis Pavlidis before the Benfica man smashed home the opener.

John Stones: 5

Made captain for what was his 82nd cap, surpassing Rio Ferdinand’s haul. But it was a shaky display from his defence and Stones should have done better to stop Pavlidis.

Levi Colwill: 7

Greece would have been ahead far sooner were it not for Colwill’s athletic hack away to deny Bakasetas. Replays showed it would have crossed the line had the Chelsea man been a split second later with his incredible intervention.

Rico Lewis: 6

Tried to bomb up the left flank where he could but, just like Kieran Trippier at the Euros, was hamstrung by constantly having to cut back onto his favoured right foot.

Declan Rice: 6

Played as England’s only holding midfielder, as fans had been imploring Gareth Southgate to use him for years. It was not like he was overrun but his side did look vulnerable on the counter.

Phil Foden: 4

Spent most of the game pressing the Greek backline as a false nine without really getting on the ball and causing any damage. Ineffective. 

Cole Palmer: 6

Deployed in a deeper, central-midfield role which at least meant he saw plenty of the ball, though he blazed England’s best chance of the first half over the bar. Remarkably, his first competitive England start, despite being named on Tuesday as Three Lions player of the 2023-24 season. 

Bukayo Saka: 5

Struggled to get into the game and then was forced out of it, worryingly limping off early in the second half. The last thing Arsenal fans wanted to see.

Jude Bellingham: 7 STAR MAN

Played in a false nine position and had a belting early shot well saved. The system did not work but Bellingham still so nearly emerged as the saviour by banging in his first goal of the season for club and country.

Anthony Gordon: 5

Caused Greece few problems and his touch looked off it. Had a decent chance from Alexander-Arnold’s peach of a delivery but headed over.

SUBS: 

Noni Madueke (for Saka 52): Played out on the left, rather than his natural right, when coming on. Went down in the box deep into injury time but no penalty was given. 6

Ollie Watkins (for Gordon 60): Almost scored with his first touch when played through by Palmer, but smashed just over. 7

Dominic Solanke (for Foden 72): Grabbed an assist when laying the ball back to Bellingham who thumped in the leveller. 7

Manager Lee Carsley: 4

Seemed to gamble unnecessarily with this experimental system instead of playing it safe to add another win to boost his case to earn the job full-time. Carsley played without a natural centre-forward when winning the Under-21 Euros because he had to after Flo Balogun switched the USA and Rhian Brewster got injured, but here he did it by choice and it did not work. Bellingham looked to have saved his bacon – but then Pavlidis struck again.

Francis Ngannou thinks the moment could be too big for Renan Ferreira.

Ngannou (17-3) takes on Ferreira (13-3) in the PFL: Battle of the Giants main event on Oct. 19 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, DAZN).

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou certainly marks the most notable name Ferreira has ever faced, which “The Predator” expects to get to him.

“This has two effects: It can be a lot of pressure for him, or it can really get him in his space,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “Usually when people manage the hype, they either overdo it, or handle it properly. It has two effects, he’s excited and he knows this is his ticket for the first class. So yes, (it might be too much).”

Despite Ngannou’s devastating knockout threat, two-time PFL heavyweight champion Ferreira will have both a height and reach advantage. The Brazilian looked amped in their first face-off where he pounded Ngannou’s chest, but Ngannou was unfazed.

“I think it was him being excited for the fight, because regardless, this is a big fight, a massive fight for him,” Ngannou said. “For him, this is his first time at that level. I think he’s being a little excited before getting in the cage for the fight. He’s getting a little pump up in adrenaline that might drop down really quick when we’re going to fight.”

PFL CEO Peter Murray said the plan is to have the winner defend the super fights belt, which Ngannou is open to.

“I still have a couple MMA fights, so obviously it will be good to be the defender (of the title rather) than the challenger,” Ngannou said. “I think there is a lot of people (to defend against), even on the PFL roster – right now or someone that is coming up.

“I remember last year when this contract was signed, Renan Ferreira wasn’t even in the picture, and I was telling people, ‘Watch out for this guy.’ Now he managed to prove to people that he is the guy. He fought like four or five times and won. If I wasn’t in his way, he would’ve continued. But unfortunately, I’m in his way.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.