And there is another record at stake here ... Newcastle United have never lost five games on the bounce in the Premier League.
So, having lost the previous four, a Newcastle defeat on Monday is unthinkable.
Alan Pardew: "I wouldn't say defeat tomorrow is unthinkable, no, I don’t think so.
“I think it’s a possibility with the opposition we’ve got and obviously we’ve lost four games.
“Somebody said to me that we haven’t lost four in a row for four years. I think there’s a few stats you could throw at us that probably don’t look very nice at the moment. You can pick any one you like.
“We have got circumstances that are a little bit unusual. I think we’ve got nine senior players missing, and for any Premier League team that’s a blow.
“These are tough times but that doesn’t mean we want that (record) round our neck, for sure.
“So it’s very important that we keep our heads, and play to our gameplan and play football.
“Sometimes the enjoyment of managing is about inspiring players.
“You know, I look at the training ground and I think our guys are in good shape considering what’s gone on here with the injuries that we’ve suffered.
“We’ve lost a lot of quality and flair in the team. It is a problem but we have to focus on what we’ve got, and not bleat about it.
“I don’t really want to go on about it. It is what it is, and we have to get a result with the team we’ve got.
"We’ve got a side that performed well at Stoke, and we’re going to attack the game.
“All we can do is lean on the Stoke performance and take that into Wigan. If we play as well as that, I think we can get a positive result, for sure.
“How important it is is difficult to analyse, but this is a big match, I don’t shy away from that. I think we all know that there’s a lot of pressure riding on the game.
“We’re not going to hide and put our heads in the sand.”