Eddie Howe will be hoping to equal a 20-year streak when Newcastle United play host to West Ham United on Saturday.

The Magpies are enjoying their best top-flight campaign in recent memory, only losing one of their opening 20 matches to occupy third place in the Premier League standings.

Holding a three-point lead over fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur having played a game fewer, Howe's target is achieving Champions League football for 2023-24.

Newcastle also find themselves in the final of the EFL Cup after progressing past Southampton, the second leg on Tuesday night finishing 2-1 in the North East outfit's favour.

Che Adams's long-range strike, albeit a consolation, ended Nick Pope's run of clean sheets, which had lasted since November 6 and a total of 10 matches.

Nevertheless, Newcastle still possess an impressive number of shutouts in the league, that current streak standing at six games.

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Should Pope and his defence manage to keep West Ham at bay at St James' Park this weekend, it will see Howe equal a streak which has lasted for two decades.

Not since a Middlesbrough side under the guidance of Steve McClaren in 2003 has an English manager been in charge of a top-flight side which has kept seven clean sheets in a row.

However, Newcastle will not want to break a club record to do so, with Newcastle currently sitting on six clean sheets for the season, their equal-most in the division.

Another record in their sights is avoiding conceding a goal in the first half of games, Newcastle having gone 16 consecutive league matches since shipping before the break.

The last time a team netted versus Newcastle during the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League encounter was on August 28 when Ruben Neves's strike put Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead in their showdown at Molineux.