Oliver Solberg says returning to the World Rally Championship’s top tier next year is his “dream”, but is wary not to make the same “mistake I did last time”.

The WRC2 points leader is yet to secure a WRC seat for next season but could have options to graduate to Rally1 or remain in the second tier for a third consecutive campaign.

Solberg’s best chance to make the step back to Rally1 next year is likely to come from M-Sport-Ford, with the team’s plans for its two Ford Pumas for next season, “up in the air”, according to team principal Richard Millener.

M-Sport could have both seats open for 2025 with its lead driver Adrien Fourmaux heavily linked to a move away from the British squad to pilot the third factory Hyundai entry.

Solberg was linked to a Rally1 drive with M-Sport for this season before opting to sign a deal with Skoda to compete in WRC2, driving for the Toksport outfit.

The 23-year-old admitted that making the leap back to Rally1 next year would be “difficult” and “attractive”, but ensuring he is making the right step is critical to the decision.

Solberg’s most recent Rally1 experience came in 2022 when the Swede endured a difficult part-time campaign piloting Hyundai’s third car that yielded four top-10 finishes and three retirements.

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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“I don’t think it [2025] looks very different to what I have now, and obviously the dream is to be in Rally1 but I think that will be difficult, but you never know,” Solberg told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

When asked about the possibility of vacant seats at M-Sport, he added: “If I think about my short-term future, maybe it would be very attractive, but long-term my dream is to stay in the WRC for a long time and I don’t want to do the same mistake I did last time with Hyundai.

“Obviously, [with] what happened there, you are very careful about what decision you make. I think M-Sport could be great and they have had a great season, it is difficult.

“I am one of the youngest [drivers here] but it is big step for your career and you want to be sure that you make the right one this time.”

Solberg maintains that he has “cool” options to continue in WRC2 if graduating to Rally1 next year doesn’t eventuate.

“I think I have very good options for WRC2 and I am extremely lucky with the options I have been offered,” he added.

“It is something that I don’t think anyone has got in WRC2 to be honest, for sure that is very attractive, but my dream is Rally1, but at least for WRC2 I have some cool options.”

Solberg’s stock could yet rise as the driver could secure a maiden WRC2 title should results go his way at the Japan season finale next month.

The Skoda driver currently leads the standings but won’t be competing on Japan’s asphalt roads having already completed his seven point-scoring events.

Solberg will however secure the title if rival Sami Pajari fails to finish either first or second in Japan.

“Obviously I love rallying so I will probably watch every stage [on TV at home],” he added. “But, normally when I watch its goes good for my competitors, so maybe I will just go and disappear somewhere.

“We will see, it could be very exciting.”

ERLING HAALAND amazed fans, pundits and his manager Pep Guardiola by scoring an incredible “karate kick” for Manchester City last night.

Guardiola’s men took on Sparta Prague at the Etihad on matchday three of the Champions League‘s new “League Phase”.

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City led 1-0 at half-time via Phil Foden‘s strike, before really turning on the style in the second period.

Just short of the hour mark, Haaland provided a piece of skill that will live long in City’s fans’ memories.

Winger Savinho took on his full-back, jinking towards the byline.

He then prodded a cross towards City’s centre-forward.

With the pass far from perfect, Haaland used all of his hulking 6ft 4in frame to make the ball his.

The Norwegian, 24, launched himself into the air – showing remarkable athleticism to get to the ball.

While 1.96m off the ground, Haaland’s lethal left foot made contact with the ball, directing it towards goal.

As the striker landed in a heap, his shot bounced beyond the reach of goalkeeper Peter Vindahl Jensen.

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Haaland then gingerly got to his feet, while wearing a smug grin on his face.

His team-mates, who surely must be used to his exploits by now, were left stunned by the goal.

Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake both put their hands on their heads.

Speaking after the game Matheus Nunes, who grabbed City’s fifth in their 5-0 win, admitted that he was “speechless” after Haaland’s goal.

Chatting to TNT Sports, he said: “It was an amazing goal. I was speechless after his shot.”

Referencing one of Haaland’s previous wonder-goals, he added: “When he scored against Dortmund I was watching on TV and to see this live, it was amazing.”

Guardiola, 53, could be seen simply applauding his striker’s brilliant goal.

He then gushed after the game: “I didn’t know how he scored. For a human being, I would say no [it’s not normal].

“He made a fantastic goal. He can touch 15 or 20 balls but have seven or eight chances. It’s unbelievable.”

‘I’D HAVE PULLED MY GROIN!’

Foden, meanwhile, joked: “I just spoke to him and said: ‘If I tried to do that I’d pull my groin!’

“I don’t know how he did it I just think it’s just his long legs. He’s a freak, isn’t he?”

Opposition coach Lars Friis lamented: “What can you say? He’s maybe the best striker in the world. He’s world class. We felt we had good hands on him but then he pops up with a goal like this.”

City’s win saw them set a new Champions League record for games unbeaten in the competition.

Their tally now stands at 26 – with last season’s penalty shoot-out exit to Real Madrid not counted as a defeat by Uefa due to both legs finishing as draws in regulation time.

Man City ratings vs Sparta Prague

By Ken Lawrence

MANCHESTER CITY put in a five star performance as they romped to victory over Sparta Prague.

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The Citizens ran out 5-0 winners at the Etihad with Pep Guardiola‘s side bagging four goals in the second half.

Phil Foden gave the hosts the perfect start as he fired in the opener inside just three minutes.

Erling Haaland also got himself on the scoresheet in the second half.

The Norweigian striker had plenty of attempts to score, but it was his improvised finish in the 58th minute that found its way past Peter Vindahl Jensen.

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John Stones made it three with a brilliant looping header to add to his solid performance at the back.

Haaland got his second in the 67th minute to make it 44 in the Champions League.

Matheus Nunes was also impressed as he netted from the spot in the closing stages, which added to his two assists.

SunSport’s Ken Lawrence has given his ratings of Pep Guardiola’s side…

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Stefan Ortega – 5
Almost a spectator, but at least it wasn’t cold or pouring down.

Nathan Ake – 5
Back after injury and unlucky to have City’s second chalked off.

Manuel Akanji – 5
Training games against his own team-mates are far harder than this was.

John Stones – 7
Followed his winner against Wolves with another towering header.

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Rico Lewis – 6
The young multi-tasker produced a typical all-action display

Matheus Nunes – 7
He claimed two assists and bagged his first-ever Champions League goal from the spot late on.

Savinho – 5
Supposed to be the new Samba man but didn’t dance that great.

Ilkay Gundogan – 7
The midfielder cruised through the 100th Champions League game of his career.

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Bernardo Silva – 6
Quiet, effective and a non-stop cog spinning the City wheel.

Phil Foden – 7
It was a slick early finish in only his fourth start of the season, but the spark faded.

Erling Haaland – 9
Even Pep Guardiola couldn’t quite believe his amazing airborne strike before he added his second.

Subs
Mateo Kovacic (for Bernardo Silva 69) – 5
Couldn’t have had an easier task by the time he emerged.

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James McAtee (for Gundogan 69) – 5
A few minutes of Champions League experience with no strain.

Josko Gvardiol (for Ake 74) – 5
Just a pleasant walk in the park….

Ruben Dias (for Stones 74) – 5
He won’t have minded stretching his legs for a bit.

Nico O’Reilly (for Haaland 81) – 5
The young attacker replaced a living legend.

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PFL Chairman Donn Davis believes the recent bitterness with Kayla Harrison is just a misunderstanding.

Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka, began her MMA career in the PFL, fighting for the promotion for five years and winning two lightweight tournaments and becoming the face of the organization. But earlier this year, Harrison finally left her longtime promotion to jump over to the UFC.

Earlier this month, Harrison made her sophomore outing in her new promotion, fighting Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307, but prior to her fight, Davis made headlines by saying that he didn’t like that Harrison “ran from” potential fights with Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco. Harrison, of course, took offense and even Pacheco wasn’t pleased with Davis’s remarks. But the PFL Chairman says the entire thing is a big misunderstanding.

“What I said had immense respect and immense context, but when it gets cut down in social media, was taken completely out of context,” Davis told MMA Fighting. “So I’ll try to re-put it in context again, but I’m sure it will re-get cut out of context.

“To repeat, I only said three things. One, we’re immensely proud that we developed her from scratch. She was one of my favorite fighters and I think she’s one of the greatest fighters of all time in the women’s divisions. So first of all, Dana never says that.

“Number two, we made her an offer to be extremely high paid and to spend her whole career here, and to do anything she wanted. I have a huge amount of respect and basically offered her a blank check and a blank ticket, not just economically but post her career. Dana never says that. That’s because we wanted her.

“And number three, we offered her bigger fights here than she has at the UFC. Cyborg, bigger fight. Pacheco, bigger fight. They’re bigger than the two fights she just had. Nobody would disagree with that. So why is she at the UFC? That’s what I said.

“So those are the three things I said. Those are all respectful, factual, and pretty straightforward. So why did she go to the UFC? I don’t know. I don’t understand. I think it has to be there is a brand there that validates her and our brand isn’t that big yet. So that’s it. But nothing but very factual respect and very factual desire that I wish on fan’s behalf that we could have given the biggest fight in the world.”

For her part, Harrison has been very clear about why she wanted to come to the UFC, stating that she wants to win the title and cement her legacy in MMA. But Davis clearly believes Harrison could have done so in the PFL.

“Now that Cyborg has clearly cemented her stature as the GOAT, everybody wants to see Kayla vs. Cyborg,” Davis said. “It’s a bigger fight than Kayla will ever have unless Nunes comes out of retirement, and the person who stopped that is Kayla.

“It doesn’t make me any money putting on that fight, but I wanted to put it on for fans. I’ve been trying for five years and I couldn’t get Cyborg here. Then I bought the whole company to get Cyborg here, and then Kayla leaves! So I don’t understand it and that’s all I’ve expressed.”

Ultimately though, Davis recognizes that however he intended his comments to come out, they were received very differently. And while Davis doesn’t believe he said anything untoward, he also admits that if he could go back, he probably wouldn’t have said anything at all.

“How I talked about this is not even close to how Dana White talks about fighters. This is not remotely how he’s talked about Francis… And two, I probably should have said nothing, but I was trying to explain the situation. If I had to do it over again, my mistake. No good has come from it.

“I have no desire to do anything negative about Kayla. I have no desire to have a bunch of click bait that’s negative on the PFL. So my mistake saying anything, trying to put this in context. My sole goal was truly to give fans the biggest fight in female history, Cyborg vs. Kayla. I spent — like Ahab on the great white whale — so much energy chasing this fight, to have it go through my grasp, kills me. It kills me.”

While Uefa’s restrictions would not impact the game in Belfast, a venue in Europe would have to be secured if permission is not granted by the UK government for the game to take place in Belfast.

But the IFA has now said the fixture “has moved a step closer to being confirmed”.

“The issuance of visas to the Belarus senior men’s football team in time to fulfil our scheduled Uefa Nations League fixture next month has been a well publicised matter,” said chief executive Patrick Nelson.

“We have spent a number of weeks working to find a positive resolution to this. After significant consultation with our Government stakeholders, we are now confident that the game can take place at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park on Friday 15 November.

“We anticipate further updates in the coming period.”

BBC Sport NI has approached Uefa for comment.

YOU should know the procedure in regards to Score Predictor by now.

Simply submit predictions for the five selected Premier League games and then sit back as you earn points for the accuracy of your forecast.

Earn the most points and you’ll bank the £250 weekly prize – not bad for a free-to-play game, eh?

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By all means trust your knowledge and/or gut instinct when entering your predictions if that’s how you roll but for those who prefer facts and figures, allow us to present some helpful context for each fixture…

Everton v Fulham

There’s hardly a cigarette paper between these two sides in the form table with both outfits having won two, drawn two and lost two of their last six outings – both have scored nine goals in that time too.

The Cottagers have had the edge over the Toffees in recent times and are unbeaten in their last six meetings in all competitions.

Marco Silva’s side also come out on top in the underlying numbers (xG, shots, etc) but will that be negated by Everton’s home advantage?

When unsure, we tend to opt for a score draw…

Our Prediction: 1-1 draw

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Chelsea v Newcastle

These teams will play each twice in quick succession with a Carabao Cup meeting to follow in midweek but Sunday’s league game is the only concern for Score Predictor users.

The Magpies are without a win in their last four league outings while the Blues are still fourth in the form table despite defeat to Liverpool last time out.

Chelsea won the corresponding fixture 3-2 back in March when both Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer were on the scoresheet – we’re tempted to back a repeat.

That being said, Newcastle’s games have generally been more cagey, as evidenced by the fact they’ve scored and conceded just eight goals in their eight league games this season.

Our Prediction: 2-1 to Chelsea

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Crystal Palace v Tottenham

Many neutrals had high expectations of the Eagles after they finished the 2023/24 campaign in such fine form but they’ve desperately struggled this season.

It’s a scary time for Oliver Glasner with Halloween closing in and his side still without a league win to their name.

And the Selhurst Park faithful will probably be dreading the visit of Spurs this weekend as the North London outfit have won the last five meetings between these teams, scoring 13 goals in the process.

Ange Postecoglou’s troops capitulated against Brighton before the international break but the broader outlook is encouraging after six wins out of their last seven games in all competitions – that would extend to seven in eight if they beat AZ Alkmaar this evening.

Our Prediction: 3-1 to Spurs

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West Ham v Manchester United

The Hammers fell apart against Spurs last Saturday and their fans will be the first to acknowledge that wasn’t the first self-destruction of the campaign.

Julen Lopetegui has also watched his side crumble against Chelsea and Liverpool in the last month.

Erik ten Hag has endured a few sleepless nights of his own this season but he will have been buoyed by the Red Devils’ second-half display against Brentford, in which Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund combined for some tidy attacking moves.

West Ham won this fixture 2-0 last season but Man United got their revenge with a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford back in February.

We don’t have much faith in either of these bottom-half sides at present but the visitors showed signs of improvement last time out while the hosts will be without key man Mohammed Kudus, who is suspended.

Our Prediction: 3-2 to Man United

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Arsenal v Liverpool

The main event.

Much of the narrative leading up to this one has revolved around the Gunners’ potential absentees.

It’s possible Mikel Arteta will be without Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori for the visit of the league leaders.

Liverpool have some injury concerns of their own, not least Diogo Jota and Alisson, but Arne Slot will be able to name a strong starting line-up nonetheless.

Arsenal have been defined by their parsimonious defence in recent times but they’re without a clean sheet in their last five domestic fixtures, not helped by their concerning disciplinary record.

The North Londoners boast the best home record in the top flight this term but Liverpool have a 100% record on the road – something has to give on Sunday.

Dare we say this might be a relatively good time to visit the Emirates?

Our Prediction: 2-1 to Liverpool

Enter your predictions for Matchweek 9 before Saturday’s 5:30pm deadline – £250 up for grabs!

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