Manuel Pellegrini is out to kill two birds with one stone as he looks to get West Ham’s season back on course while doing former club Manchester City a favour in the Premier League title race.
The Hammers host leaders Liverpool on Monday night, where fans will be desperate to see a decent performance after three straight defeats.
Manchester City will be watching events at the London Stadium closely as they attempt to chase down the Reds, just as they did under Pellegrini in 2014 to claim the title.
Their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday clawed the gap at the top back to just two points, and a win for West Ham against the high-flying Reds will be a huge boost for Pep Guardiola’s side.
“If we win I will be very happy for our club first, because we need a good performance against the leaders,” said Hammers boss Pellegrini ahead of Monday night’s clash.
“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.”
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However, Pellegrini feels Liverpool’s exit from both domestic cups will still give them an edge in the title race even if they come unstuck in east London.
City are still fighting on four fronts, in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup, and – just like when he was City boss – the Chilean believes their packed fixture list will work against Guardiola and his trophy hopes.
Pellegrini also insists Tottenham – knocked out of both cups last week and only two points behind City in third – also cannot be discounted.
“It’s more easy for the team that is involved in just two competitions compared to the team that is involved in four,” he added.
“Tottenham? You should never think that a team four or five points behind you are not involved in the title. Of course they are.
“City have to play the final of the Carabao Cup which will suspend a game. If they make the semi-final of the FA Cup they must suspend another game.
“They have midweek with the Champions League. So it’s not easy to compete in all the competitions.
“I talked about this four years ago. The major problem was that we were involved in all the competitions. We won one League Cup in that moment.
“We then went out of the FA Cup in the quarter-final against Wigan. If we’d continued in that FA Cup, I don’t think we would have been able to play all the games. We didn’t have time to do it.”