West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini angry that Twitter account leaked 89 consecutive correct line ups
The Chilean names his team four hours before kick-off but an unofficial Hammers account is sharing the announcement earlier than the players find out
MANUEL PELLEGRINI is angry that a Twitter account is releasing his team sheets early.
Pellegrini, 64, was made aware of @ExWHUemployee, a user which successfully announced 89 consecutive Hammers line-ups before they were made public.
The Times revealed the West Ham boss is concerned the account knows the line-up before even the players are told.
And he is now making enquiries to try and find the leak.
Pellegrini holds a pre-match meeting four hours before kick-off where he informs the squad of the team.
But the 50,400 followers of @ExWHUemployee on Twitter often know who will be starting before that.
The account tweets out their "predicted"; team, linking to The West Ham Way website, a popular fan page, and is usually accompanied with a couple of cheeky emojies.
Ahead of the Carabao Cup tie with AFC Wimbledon, @ExWHUemployee tweeted: "Here is our "predicted line up"; going for our 89th correct prediction in a row with this team selection. Have a look."
But after 89 consecutive correct predictions, the account finally got one wrong for the Wolves match at the beginning of September.
It said Arthur Masuaka would start at left-back but he picked up a last-minute injury and was replaced by Aaron Cresswell, ending a sensational run as fans jokingly enjoyed a cheeky pop.
West Ham have lost all four of their Premier League games under Pellegrini this season.
They started the season with a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool then lost to Bournemouth and Arsenal before Adama Traore's injury-time winner for Wolves ensured the Hammers remain bottom of the league and without a point.
The night before the game against Wolves, it tweeted: "There are multiple changes to the team that played against Wimbledon."
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The user's profile reads: "I bring exclusive news and opinion @westhamwaycouk Also on Facebook, The West Ham Way Podcast and YouTube" and it is there that @deportivohammer writes his match previews which includes a predicted line up, that seems to always be correct.
West Ham travel to Merseyside this weekend to take on Everton and Pellegrini will be desperate his team news can be kept out of the public domain until an hour before kick-off.