Man City face Norwich City in Carabao Cup, with Brighton due to face the winners
By Matt Smith
The winner of this tie will face Brighton, who knocked out City’s rivals Manchester United on Wednesday night.
It’s been a few years since these two sides have gone head-to-head, and Norwich fans will still remember some of the demolitions they’ve been on the end of against the Manchester club.
City have won the last three meetings between the two sides by a combined score of 14-0, while Norwich haven’t won at the Etihad Stadium in the last four meetings.
Team news
Manchester City will be without Phil Foden after he was sent off against United last time out for kicking Bruno Fernandes. Jérémy Doku remains a doubt for the home side, while it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a host of changes from Enzo Maresca.
Ayyoub Bouaddi is among those who haven’t had many opportunities to impress just yet, while we could see Allan and Gerónimo Rulli make their debuts.
Norwich have a number of injury problems, with Gabriel Forsyth, Mirko Topić, Ali Ahmed, and Lucien Mahovo all ruled out.
Seamless transition for City
Many City fans will have been dreading the day Pep Guardiola headed for the exit door. Maresca has taken charge, and although it’s incredibly early days and he’ll need to hit unbelievable heights to match Pep’s achievements, there have been promising signs so far.
Passing teams to death was City’s previous way of playing, and it’s been a seamless transition with Maresca sharing similar values. Only Brighton have averaged more possession in the Premier League this season.
Pep’s side were known for giving lower-league sides a thumping, but can Maresca replicate that tonight?
Norwich must tighten up defensively
One thing Norwich can’t afford to do against a side like Manchester City is to gift them opportunities. Maresca’s side, as mentioned, haven’t shown any mercy against sides in the lower divisions, so Norwich will certainly have to tighten up compared to some of their performances this season.
Only five teams in the Championship have conceded more expected goals than Norwich so far this season. If they fail to fix that heading to the Etihad, then it could be a long night for the travelling supporters.
Ndiaye’s chance to shine
With Doku remaining out injured and Maresca likely to rotate, it could be a chance for Iliman Ndiaye to show what he’s about. The Senegalese international was named on the bench for the Manchester derby, but made a serious impact when coming on in the second half.
Despite playing just 45 minutes, no City player produced more successful dribbles or won more duels, while he was fouled more times than any player on the pitch. The former Everton man put a real defensive shift in, and it could be a chance to show more in the final third.
Prediction
It has to be a comfortable City win, especially with them being at home: Manchester City 4-0 Norwich City.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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