(REUTERS) - Under-pressure West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini says he may be out of a job if the east London club do not beat fellow English Premier League strugglers Southampton on Saturday (Dec 14).

West Ham are 16th on 16 points, a point above Southampton, who occupy 18th spot and are in the relegation zone, above only Norwich and Watford.

The Hammers have collected just five points from their last 10 games and Pellegrini is the odds-on favourite with bookmakers to be the next Premier League boss to leave, ahead of his Southampton counterpart Ralph Hasenhuettl.

"What I really need is to win the game but maybe I'm not in my job on Monday," Chilean Pellegrini told a pre-match news conference. "Having just five points from this many games is not good enough."

The British media had reported that the 66-year-old, who was appointed in May 2018, was on the verge of being sacked after West Ham lost 3-1 at home to London rivals Arsenal on Monday.

"I said from the beginning that I came here to... try to play another way than West Ham played in all the other seasons and not for just fighting relegation," he said.

"It is not my goal. And if I am not in that position, of course I'm not happy."