Rulli, Allan and Samba set for City debuts as Maresca rests Haaland against Norwich

Enzo Maresca will field at least three Manchester City debutants against Norwich in the Carabao Cup, resting Erling Haaland and several other first-team regulars who have played consecutive full matches in recent days.

Goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, signed in the summer to replace James Trafford as City’s cup keeper, will start ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma — continuing Maresca’s established policy of using his second-choice stopper in domestic cup football. Brazilian winger Allan, who joined from Palmeiras last month but has been limited to bench appearances, is also in line for his first minutes, as is teenage midfielder Floyd Samba, who is expected to make his senior debut for the club.

Samba comes with notable footballing pedigree: his father Christopher is a former Premier League defender, and his older brother Tyrone is also in the City academy.

Maresca pointed to the physical load on his squad as the reason for the rotation, singling out Haaland as one of several players who have started consecutive matches. “He’s one of the players that played 90 minutes back-to-back with Porto and United,” the manager said. “He’s not the only one — six or seven have played 90 and 90. Some of them will need some rest.”

Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Donnarumma, Matheus Nunes, Enzo Fernandez and Antoine Semenyo are among the others who could be given a breather, having featured heavily over the past week.

Maresca is nonetheless clear that City will approach the tie with the intention of winning. “We prepare all the games trying to win the games and trying to compete to win,” he said. “It will be tricky — we are going to try to win it and then we’ll see.”

The context is not lost on the City manager. His predecessor Pep Guardiola won the Carabao Cup five times in ten seasons — more than any other manager in the competition’s history — and Maresca has been tasked with keeping City competitive across all fronts. The immediate priority after the Norwich game is a Premier League home fixture against Sunderland at the Etihad on Sunday.