Seeing his West Ham side beat Liverpool would be special for Manuel Pellegrini and not least because it might help his old club Manchester City, the Hammers boss has admitted.

Premier League leaders Liverpool are the visitors on Monday evening to the London Stadium as they look to extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s champions to five points.

City trimmed the gap on Sunday when they beat Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium and, should Liverpool fail to win on Monday, Pep Guardiola’s team could take over top spot by defeating Everton on Wednesday.

Victory for West Ham, currently 12th, would lift the Hammers into the top ten and while that remains Pellegrini’s top priority, he admits that doing a favour for his former employers would give him a buzz too.

Pellegrini won the league in 2014 during a three-year spell at City and he’d enjoy assisting them in their quest to retain the title for the first time in their history. “If we win, I will be very happy for our club first,” said the Chilean.

“We need a good performance against the leaders. “After that, if we can give a hand to Manchester City, it’s not our problem, but of course I am a fan of Manchester City also.”

West Ham have lost their last three games since a 1-0 win over Arsenal on January 12, including a shock FA Cup defeat by League One side AFC Wimbledon.

The Hammers are 8.50 to beat Liverpool, while the draw is priced at 5.25. The Reds are 6.50 to win the game 2-0.