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If ever a four-day period that summed up Newcastle United's curious season.

On Sunday, Eddie Howe's team suffered a bruising 3-1 loss against struggling West Ham at London Stadium.

That outcome that left struggling away Newcastle languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Consider this team went on to leapfrog Real Madrid into the sixth spot in the Champions League standings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park a few days later.

It was their fifth straight home victory, but that was not reason to rejoice for Howe.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle look to at last tackle their road struggles after not securing a victory on the road in the league since April.

"It's very disappointing because I think we have a style of play and a game plan that works, that's highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

"For whatever reason we have not been winning the games away from home that we should have.

"Now we're sort of caught in that trap where it's turning into an issue of conversation and we're likely growing more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Secure' St James'

Newcastle's players were certainly made aware of it earlier this week.

They had nowhere for the squad to hide as they were put through what defender Dan Burn described as a "very painful" analysis session in the days after the West Ham defeat.

"We saw how far off we were from what we demand from ourselves," Burn said. "But that's the best way to learn.

"You have got to have some tough talks and the coach is skilled at doing that. He is always straightforward with what he says."

Burn, who went on to open the scoring with a bullet header, always knew that Newcastle would bounce back against Athletic.

The hosts hardly needed any extra incentive to contest a Champions League match under the lights at St James'.

In his matchday notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we play our best football."

And outcomes certainly back those words up.

Newcastle have beaten Athletic, Tottenham, Fulham, Benfica and Nottingham Forest by an aggregate scoreline of 11-1 on their own turf in the last month alone.

They have a 70% win rate at St James' this season. That statistic should be even better - last-minute goals proved damaging against Arsenal and Liverpool – but these top contenders and Barcelona are the only teams to have defeated Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Travel Troubles

However it has been a very different story away from home.

Newcastle have only won four matches on their away trips in 2025 and they have looked lacking sharpness of late.

Howe's side have scored a quarter as many goals (two) away as they have at home in the league (eight), and bottom of the table Wolves are the only side to have scored less (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's first goal against West Ham was a uncommon instance of this side being clinical away from home in the league – just 26 seconds after Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen had struck the post.

Though Newcastle have had more possession away (56%) than at home (47.1%), according to Opta, Howe's team have had 30 fewer touches in the opposition box (110) and they have only had 50% fewer shots on target (13) on their travels, which highlights the difficulties they have faced penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least rely on their defensive strength as a base to build from earlier in the campaign following clean sheets against Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth in their opening three away games of the season.

But the visitors have since leaked five goals in just two matches versus Brighton and West Ham.

That backline work starts with the press from the front, but Newcastle have won possession back on eight fewer occasions (16) away than at home (24), while highly-praised midfield trio Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Guimaraes have been often circumvented on the road in recent weeks.

Burn has spoken of the need to "be a bit more ugly", referencing how his side were "renowned a few years ago for physical play."

Howe recognised his side "possibly need a bit of that" ahead of Sunday's trip to the Gtech Community Stadium as he called on his players to bring the "skill, execution and, above all, the attitude".

"It comes down to playing a game of football and producing a good performance – regardless of where we are playing," he said.

"The only way we can address those doubts is to play well and get the job done."