Newcastle United have picked up where they finished last season and are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League. The last time the Magpies did that was back in 2011-12 when they finished fifth and qualified for the Europa League.
Nobody on Tyneside is predicting a European finish for the Magpies this season, despite a lot of outside noise. The long-term ambition is for European football to return to Tyneside, having finished just seven points adrift of West Ham in the Europa Conference League places.
The 2011-12 campaign is the only Premier League season where they've kept clean sheets in their opening two games. You would have to go back to 1990-91 and then 1961-62 for the last two times they kept clean sheets in their opening two fixtures - both of those coming in the second division.
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Prior to the 2011-12 campaign, the Magpies had not kept consecutive clean sheets in the top flight since 1951-52, when they won the FA Cup. It's fair to say Newcastle supporters would snap your hand off for a European finish of Cup win this campaign.
The Toon limited Nottingham Forest to just five shots at St. James' Park, with none of those hitting the target. Brighton did have more luck at the weekend with 14 shots and five of those hitting the target but none were able to find a way past Nick Pope.
Newcastle will be hoping to make it three clean sheets on the bounce this weekend, but with Manchester City in town, that may prove a bridge too far. The last time the Magpies kept three consecutive clean sheets to start the season was way back in the 1902-03 campaign.
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