Manchester City hosts Norwich chasing a seventh straight Carabao Cup win

Six straight wins in the Carabao Cup and the current title in hand. Those are the credentials Manchester City brings into its third round matchup against Norwich City, this Thursday, September 17, at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's City side isn't just defending a streak, it's defending the crown it lifted last season, and that adds extra pressure to a match that, on paper, looks comfortable.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM (Argentina, Uruguay and Chile time) and 1:30 PM (Colombia, Peru and Ecuador time), with the broadcast available through Disney+'s Premium Plan for South America.

Norwich arrives with a story quite different from City's. The team led by Philippe Clement dropped out of the Premier League in 2022 and has been fighting to regain ground in the Championship ever since. In fact, the club hasn't gotten past the third round of this cup since 2018, so the immediate goal already carries symbolic weight beyond the final result.

How the two teams arrive

Enzo Maresca's City side heads into this matchup riding the momentum of a derby win over Manchester United, 1-0, with a goal from Erling Haaland in the 60th minute, in matchday four of the Premier League. The team won all four of its league matches to open the season and sits second, level on points with Arsenal.

Norwich, on the other hand, comes in reeling: the club fell 4-3 on the road to Middlesbrough in matchday seven of the Championship and sits in 12th place, with three wins and four losses so far in the competition.

Two names on City's roster stand out as recent arrivals from Argentina: Enzo Fernandez and Geronimo Rulli, who could make his official debut between the posts for the Citizens. They're joined up front by Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki, all key names in the attack.

On Norwich's side, Jamaican Andre Brooks, Australian Mohamed Toure and Congolese Anthony Musaba stand out, three players who will need to step up if the team hopes to pull off an upset.

The most recent meeting

The last time the two sides met was in February 2022, in the Premier League, and the result was a rout: 4-0 in City's favor, with a hat trick from Raheem Sterling and the finishing touch from Phil Foden. That City team would go on to win the title that same season, so recent history offers little comfort for the Canaries.

With all that context on the table, the question hanging over the Etihad is simple: will Norwich have enough discipline and a bit of luck to slow down a City side that hasn't lost in this competition in six matches? The answer starts to be written this Thursday.