Chris Hughton and Rafa Benitez are confronted by the same issue as they face each other in the game before the transfer window re-opens.

Can they conjure enough goals in the second half of the season to keep Albion and Newcastle in the Premier League?

Both will be looking for help from their respective recruitment teams in January trading after they were left short in the summer.

Albion's failure to land a striker has been well documented. Benitez ended up with Joselu, a £5 million offcast from Stoke.

A lack of firepower is beginning to catch up with the clubs that dominated the Championship last season.

Only the top seven have conceded fewer goals than Albion's 25 in 20 games.

Newcastle have let in five more, the joint 11th best defensive record in the division.

Hughton and Benitez are realists. They are competing against mainly superior squads and have set their teams up to be hard to beat, particularly when they come up against top opposition.

As Middlesbrough discovered to their cost last season and West Brom are finding out this time (just 27 goals conceded but next-to-bottom) this has to be married with sufficient potency to nick the wins required for survival.

From the moment Hughton was left with a three-man strike force, one of whom (Sam Baldock, below) has only just returned from injury, it was always going to be a case of chiselling out results for Albion to give themselves a chance entering the New Year sales.

The Argus: He has achieved this and more with five victories, three of them 1-0, including Tomer Hemed's goal that beat Newcastle at the Amex at the end of September.

Albion's tally of 15 has them in the relegation zone in the goals scored table, above only Swansea and West Brom.

They have drawn a blank in half of their games and in 18 of those 20 matches have hit the target just nine times (they scored three against West Brom and West Ham).

Glenn Murray leads the way with five goals. Pascal Gross has justified Hughton's revision from Championship 4-4-2 to 4-4-1-1 with four goals and five assists in the No.10 role. Hemed has netted twice.

The Argus: Three other players have contributed to the modest total, record signing Jose Izquierdo and fellow wingers Anthony Knockaert and Solly March (above).

What of Newcastle? They are 13th in the goals scored table with 19, three of which also came at a benevolent West Ham.

Joselu and Dwight Gayle - the type of pacey alternative Albion are lacking - have three apiece.

The main difference is they have scored goals from more areas. Twelve different players have found the net, which is twice as many as the Seagulls.

Newcastle are desperate to ease a miserable run at St James' Park of five straight defeats, four of them without a goal. They last lost six in a row in 1953.

Albion have arguably done better away than anticipated, with wins in the first half of the season at West Ham and Swansea.

They have struggled of late on their travels, four straight defeats and no goals, although three of these were against Manchester United, Spurs and Chelsea.

The other, at Huddersfield, highlights why the side that finished below the Seagulls and Newcastle in the Championship are currently doing the best of the promoted trio.

The Yorkshiremen have leaked 32 goals, the fourth-worst defensive record. Only Stoke, Watford and West Ham have let in more. Even Swansea have conceded fewer.

Huddersfield have not been prolific. Their tally of 18 goals is the same as Bournemouth (18th) and Burnley (seventh).

But the two strikers they signed in the summer have been prominent in some vital victories.

The Argus: They splashed out £13 million on Steve Mounie (second right, above) from Montpellier. He scored twice in the opening day win at Crystal Palace and both goals against Albion last month after a lengthy spell injured.

The five goals from Laurent Depoitre, a £3.5 million buy from Porto, have helped Huddersfield to eight of their points.

They also have eight different scorers. Australian Aaron Moy (who was an Albion target) has chipped in from midfield with four, the same number as the Seagulls' defenders, midfielders and wingers put together.

Survival will be achieved by fine margins. Four points divide Albion in 12th from New Year's Day visitors Bournemouth in 18th.

Newcastle, in 15th, will move above Albion if they beat them. Both need to strengthen their strike forces in January to remain above the relegation line.