Manchester City wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri was not in the squad at Old Trafford for Sunday's Premier League win
Porto, Portugal - September 8: Manchester City's Rayan Ait-Nouri running with the ball during the UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 match between Porto and Manchester City at Estádio do Dragão on September 8, 2026 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Torbjorn Tande/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Porto, Portugal - September 8: Manchester City's Rayan Ait-Nouri running with the ball during the UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 match between Porto and Manchester City at Estádio do Dragão on September 8, 2026 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Torbjorn Tande/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
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Rayan Ait-Nouri is expected to be available for Manchester City's League Cup game on Thursday after missing the Premier League win over Manchester United. The Algerian was not included in the 20-man squad at Old Trafford but is not understood to be carrying an injury.
Instead, the full-back is described as being left out for tactical reasons as Enzo Maresca preferred other options for the derby. Nico O'Reilly came back into the squad after injury, Vitor Reis and Rico Lewis kept their places on the bench as defensive cover while Allan and Iliman Ndiaye were backup forwards.
Ait-Nouri has his work cut out to make it at City with his second season at the club off to a challenging start. His agent explored the option of a temporary switch to United on deadline day after Ait-Nouri had not played a single minute of the first three league games, ignored for youngster Kaden Braithwaite in the final minutes of the 4-1 win at Crystal Palace.
The 25-year-old was left on the bench at Porto as Maresca played Abdukodir Khusanov out of position at left-back for the second half of their Champions League game in midweek, but did come on later in an advanced position. He set up Erling Haaland for the second goal of the game but that was not enough to keep him in the squad for the United game.
Ait-Nouri must now impress enough to feature against Norwich on Thursday in the Carabao Cup, although it will be interesting to see where he plays - if he does get minutes. Maresca suggested on Friday that he was in competition with the wingers in the squad rather than the full-backs.
"When he was at Wolves it was a back five, so more of a wing back," the manager said. "I see him more as a winger than a full back but it doesn’t mean in the future that if we need him as a full back we are not going to use him."