Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Premier League leader Chelsea has nothing to fear from his team despite City's 4-0 demolition of West Ham on Wednesday.
Guardiola's team delivered a swaggering display at London Stadium as goals from Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Gabriel Jesus and Yaya Toure secured its biggest league win since October.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was watching from the stands and was no doubt impressed, but Guardiola was adamant the 10-point gap between his fifth-place team and Chelsea is too much to overcome.
Chelsea is also nine points ahead of second-place Tottenham and Guardiola said the Blues will have to choke badly to surrender their grip on the title.
"Antonio doesn't have to be too worried about what he saw. They are nine points in front. Only Chelsea can lose the Premier League," Guardiola said.
"When you see how many games they lost in the last 16, normally you can expect they won't lose many more.
"In sport you don't know, but I don't think we can catch them.
"It's a big mistake when you are 10 points behind to think of Chelsea. We have to qualify for the Champions League first.
"We have been inconsistent. After we win we have drawn or lost one or two games."
City's dominant performance was achieved without star striker Sergio Aguero and first-string goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who were both left on the bench by Guardiola.
The manager insisted both players remain a big part of his plans, but he refused to say whether they will return to the starting lineup against Swansea on Sunday.
"Today I decided on this lineup, and I will sleep well. I have 22, 23 guys and everyone deserves to play," Guardiola said.
"I make a lot of mistakes, but I have to make decisions.
"Sergio remains so important for us. He knows and everybody knows we cannot achieve our goals without him.
"I make a decision with my staff based on the performances of the past. I like to involve as many players as possible with this crazy calendar."
With Aguero on the sidelines, it was City's trio of dazzling young forwards who stole the show.
Leroy Sane, 21, Raheem Sterling, 22, and Jesus, 19, were all too hot for West Ham to handle and Guardiola expects great things from them in the future.
"We have three strikers who are so quick and can make runs behind the defense that are so dangerous," he said.
"These three guys are the future for the club. In Europe you cannot see another team with three strikers this young.
"Gabriel learned what it means to play in England away. He is a fighter, he will always attack and he wants to score goals.
"Leroy had some problems at the beginning but now he's settled. They will be important players for the next few years."
For West Ham manager Slaven Bilic it was a case of deja vu as his team was again crushed by City, just weeks after being bombed 5-0 by Guardiola's squad in the FA Cup.
"It's hard to find positive things from a game like this," said Bilic. "It was kind of a copy and paste from the Cup, with the same mistakes."