Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will take nothing for granted against West Ham this weekend.
City host the struggling Hammers at the Etihad Stadium looking to extend their club-record run of 19 wins in succession, 12 of which have come in the Premier League.
By contrast West Ham have not won in the Premier League since September and slipped into the bottom three after losing 4-0 at Everton in midweek.
Asked at a press conference if Sunday's game should be easy, City boss Guardiola said: "Don't say the word please!
"These kind of things happened in Barcelona. I was asked many times about that when we had good results. I spoke well about the opponents and people said 'Pep has false humility, he's a liar, he's saying something he doesn't believe'.
"I can't deny we're in better form than West Ham and have had better results, but tomorrow we start again.
"I can't think it's already done or it'll be easy. I can't think, 'It's West Ham we can make six or seven changes and the second team is going to play'. I think that's ridiculous.
"We have to respect them and the best respect to them is to be serious and play the strongest team possible."
City have not only been winning with regularity this season but doing so in style. With a clear lead at the top of the table they are overwhelming title favourites, but Guardiola is not getting carried away.
He said: "We cannot deny I am so satisfied with the previous results, but there are more than 70 points to play for. We have to more than double the points to be champions."
Read More
MORE ABOUT