Tijjani Reijnders has told his Manchester City teammates they must accomplish something the club has never done during Pep Guardiola's tenure.
Netherlands midfielder Reijnders was on the scoresheet after Omar Marmoush's first half brace on Wednesday, as City eased to a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United to book a Carabao Cup final showdown against Arsenal next month.
Guardiola's side are also the Gunners' nearest challengers in the Premier League title race, but just one win so far in 2026 in England's top flight means they can ill afford any further slip-ups. They are six points behind with 14 games remaining.
Next up for City are reigning champions Liverpool. They beat Arne Slot's men 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium in November but trips to Anfield have been enough to fill the best teams of the Guardiola era with trepidation.
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A Phil Foden-inspired 4-1 win on Merseyside in 2021 during the behind-closed-doors season in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. City have not won at Anfield with a crowd in since 2003.
Not that this can be too much of a concern to former AC Milan star Reijnders. Asked whether City have to beat Liverpool on Sunday, he replied: "Yes that's for sure. It will be a big match and we have to be ready and show what we can do.
"We can't afford any more slip-ups. We want to win every game and this game won't be different for us. So we have to be ready."
How many goals has Tijjani Reijnders scored this season?
Reijnders' strike against Newcastle was his seventh of the campaign in all competitions, with six of those coming since the start of December.
After a slow start within a much-changed City squad, the 27-year-old is starting to pick up the considerable goalscoring slack left behind by club greats Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan.
Antoine Semenyo, Tijjani Reijnders and Omar Marmoush
It's a welcome development for Guardiola, who has bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal during the recent slew of Premier League draws.
"It's difficult. Sometimes it's unlucky, sometimes maybe it's the sharpness," Reijnders said. "It's difficult to say and it's different for every player. I think we showed that we can be very effective here.
"[Against Newcastle] you saw how many spaces we got. We really had some big chances as well and we didn't even score all of them. But to score three against Newcastle is not easy."
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Are Man City better without Erling Haaland?
It's not a coincidence that concerns over City's ruthlessness in front of goal have run in parallel with a form slump for superstar striker Erling Haaland.
Haaland came off the bench and forced Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale into two sharp saves late on in midweek. He has not scored a Premier League goal from open play since a brace against West Ham on December 20.
City's two wins over Premier League opponents in 2026 have now come with Haaland among the substitutes and Marmoush and new arrival Antoine Semenyo playing as split strikers.
Marmoush's first goal against Newcastle featured some wonderful interplay with Reijnders and the eye test strongly suggests there is more fluidity and flair to City's play when more multi-faceted forwards start in Haaland's place.
"I don't think it's because of only Omar and Antoine or that Erling wasn't playing," Reiinders added. "It was the spaces that they gave us, and yes, we made really good usage of that with Phil [Foden] and me, to find us between the lines. We had a lot of metres to run with the ball and I think it was more of a team performance."