Thursday 3 March 2016 23:22, UK
Vincent Kompany says Manchester City cannot afford to "make any more mistakes" in the race for the Premier League title.
City suffered a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday night - losing a third successive Premier League match for the first time since 2008 - and remain 10 points behind current leaders Leicester.
Yet with rivals Tottenham and Arsenal also losing on the same night, fourth-placed City did not lose much ground on the sides above them in the latest round of fixtures.
City do have a game in hand over their title rivals, but Kompany has warned his team-mates they have no margin for error if they hope to secure the club's third Premier League crown.
"We can't make any more mistakes but I didn't expect all the other teams to lose," he said.
"It is an awkward season - good for the fans but you can't predict anything can you? If there is one guarantee for this season it is nothing is sure."
City manager Manuel Pellegrini blamed fatigue for the defeat at Anfield, recalling also that his squad produced a stirring performance away at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League a week ago.
City now need to get a positive result against relegation-threatened Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and, with Tottenham facing Arsenal, it could be another intriguing weekend in an unpredictable competition.
Kompany added: "If you look at this result it could have been worse, although we are not happy with the result or the performance.
"But at the same time it is a tough place for us to come. We are not going to draw too many conclusions from this game.
"We will see what is happening at the weekend; Arsenal and Spurs are playing against each other, we are at home to Aston Villa.
"We need to get the three points and maybe Leicester will drop some points."
