Tijjani Reijnders has insisted Manchester City's margin for error is gone as they prepare for Sunday's trip to Liverpool. City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by six points and, after dropping points in five of their last six games, know they can no longer afford mistakes.
Pep Guardiola's side travel to Anfield in good spirits after securing their place in the Carabao Cup final with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Newcastle. Omar Marmoush scored twice and Reijnders added a third in the second leg, which ended 3-1 after Anthony Elanga pulled one back for Newcastle.
Reijnders, who will face Arsenal in the Wembley final next month, said: "We can't afford any more slip-ups. We want to win every game and this game won't be different for us." The Dutchman, still sporting a black eye from a clash of heads in last week's Champions League match against Galatasaray, added that playing at Wembley for the first time would be a dream come true.
For Newcastle, the defeat marked a flat end to their defence of the trophy, with their frustrations compounded by an injury to Anthony Gordon. The England forward limped off with a hamstring problem before half-time, and manager Eddie Howe described the issue as a "big worry".
Newcastle are now four games without a win in all competitions and host Brentford on Saturday. Howe said: "All we can do now is focus on our next game. We're really disappointed to go out of this competition, it means so much to us. There's a massive amount to play for and we can't let any negative results affect us."
