Maresca to hand fringe players and academy trio starts against Norwich in Carabao Cup

Enzo Maresca will ring the changes for Manchester City’s Carabao Cup tie against Norwich on Thursday, handing opportunities to fringe players and academy prospects as he looks to build depth across all four competitions.

Rico Lewis, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Nico O’Reilly and Vitor Reis are among the senior players in line to start, while summer signing Allan could make his debut having not featured since arriving from Palmeiras. Academy trio Ryan McAidoo, Kaden Braithwaite and Floyd Samba are also expected to be involved.

Maresca has leaned heavily on a core group of players across back-to-back fixtures at Porto and Manchester United last week, and is now ready to spread the load. The City head coach has been tasked with keeping the squad competitive in all four competitions — a standard set by his predecessor Pep Guardiola, who won five Carabao Cups in ten years and regularly used the tournament to rotate.

“We are going to make some changes,” Maresca said. “I don’t know how many but for different reasons. The ones who will play, I’m sure at some stage they will play important games later in the season in the Premier League and Champions League.”

Maresca was clear that Thursday’s game is not simply a chance to rest tired legs, but a genuine audition for bigger fixtures ahead. “With the amount of games and injuries, players need rest, so for them it is an opportunity to get better and better and better because we will need them in important games,” he added.

The rotation policy reflects a broader challenge for Maresca as he navigates a congested schedule in his first season in charge at the Etihad. Getting fringe players up to speed now, he believes, will prove decisive when the stakes are higher later in the campaign.