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It arrived just like clockwork on Friday afternoon.

Twenty hours before Liverpool’s Premier League showdown with West Ham at Anfield, Brendan Rodgers’ starting XI came through in a text message from a fan. By then it was already available on social media sites.

Week after week the same thing has been happening. Week after week the information has been spot on. It’s not guesswork. Back in mid-December, Rodgers made some sweeping changes ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.

He opted to drop goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, bring in Brad Jones and change the formation to 3-4-2-1. Rodgers went with Raheem Sterling as the central striker after Rickie Lambert had played there against Basel five days earlier. Alberto Moreno, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana came in for Jose Enrique, Lucas Leiva and Lambert.

Yet there was no element of surprise when the team sheets landed an hour before kick-off against Manchester United. On the eve of the game Rodgers’ team was already out there in the public domain.

It’s something Rodgers is acutely aware of and it’s a source of great frustration for the manager. It doesn’t happen at any other top Premier League club.

There is no mole in the Liverpool camp who is giving his pals confidential information from team meetings the day before matches.

Liverpool know exactly where it’s coming from and currently there is precious little they can do to stop it.

The fact is Melwood isn’t just open to the elements, it’s open to virtually anyone who is determined enough to catch a glimpse of Rodgers putting his players through their paces. It’s a snoopers paradise.

Most Premier League training complexes are in a private and secure environment away from prying eyes. Liverpool don’t have that luxury.

The reason the team keeps getting out is because of those onlookers who use an assortment of bins, cars or ladders to be able to peer over the Melwood walls.

The players know who is playing the day before a game when Rodgers asks them to work on the team shape. The XI with the same coloured bibs for the session are the ones who have got the nod. Within minutes that information is being tweeted around the globe.

Liverpool even had an issue earlier this season where someone was filming the set-piece routines they were working on.

Rodgers has tried to get around the problem. Earlier in the campaign there were times when the Reds trained at Anfield instead in a bid for some privacy. However, the problem is that the playing surface there is so poor. It’s being ripped up and relaid this summer but training on it the day before a game at the moment just isn’t feasible.

Liverpool do have an indoor facility at Melwood but it’s small and unsuitable for the kind of work Rodgers wants to do.

Of course it’s nothing new. There were issues with the team leaking out under Kenny Dalglish.

But with the growth of social media it’s now spreading like wildfire and inquisitive fans are handing opposition teams a significant advantage.