Manchester City vs Norwich prediction 17.09.2026 | EFL Cup

City have made an excellent start under Enzo Maresca, winning their last five matches across all competitions. Those victories include a 4-1 away win at Crystal Palace, 1-0 against Coventry City, a 2-0 Champions League success at Porto and Sunday's 1-0 Manchester derby victory at Old Trafford. 

Erling Haaland has already been central to City's attacking output, scoring the decisive goal against Manchester United. The Norwegian also scored in the Champions League victory over Porto. 

Maresca is likely to rotate his squad given City's demanding schedule, with Sunderland visiting the Etihad just three days after this cup tie. Jeremy Doku remains unavailable with a calf problem and was previously ruled out until late September. Nico O'Reilly, however, has been declared fit and available.

Norwich arrive in Manchester in mixed form. Philippe Clement's side have won three of their last five Championship matches, beating Birmingham 2-1 and Sheffield United 3-1, but suffered defeats against Stoke City and Middlesbrough. 

The Canaries’ defensive vulnerability could be severely exposed against a City side that has already demonstrated considerable attacking quality.

The visitors continue to have several injury concerns, with Ali Ahmed, Lucien Mahovo and Mirko Topic among the players listed as unavailable. Paris Maghoma and Jovon Makama have also had recent fitness problems, although their situations require monitoring closer to kick-off.