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

This past weekend, Eddie Howe's squad endured a heavy 3-1 defeat against struggling West Ham at London Stadium.

It was a result that left struggling away Newcastle sitting in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Consider this side 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 just days later.

That marked their fifth consecutive home victory, but that was not cause for celebration for Howe.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle aim to finally address their away-day woes after not securing a victory on the road in the league since April.

"It's very disappointing because I think we have a playing style and a method of play 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 cycle where it's turning into an issue of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Safe' 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 back Dan Burn described as a "deeply uncomfortable" review meeting in the days after the West Ham defeat.

"We saw how far off we were from what we expect from ourselves," Burn said. "However, that is the best way to learn.

"You have got to have some uncomfortable conversations 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 powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would respond 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 "secure environment for us where we know we perform at our peak."

And outcomes certainly support that claim.

Newcastle have beaten Athletic, Tottenham, Fulham, Benfica and Nottingham Forest by an combined score of 11-1 on home soil in the last month alone.

They have a 70% win rate at St James' this season. That record should be even better - late concessions proved damaging against Arsenal and Liverpool – but these respective title challengers and Barcelona are the only teams to have defeated Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a solitary strike.

Away-Day Blues

However it has been a completely different tale away from home.

Newcastle have only won four matches on their travels in 2025 and they have looked especially blunt of late.

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

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

Though Newcastle have had more ball control away (56%) than at home (47.1%), according to Opta, Howe's team have had 30 less contact in the opposition box (110) and they have only had half as many shots on target (13) on their travels, which underscores the difficulties they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least rely on their solidity 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 away side have since leaked five goals in just two matches versus Brighton and West Ham.

That defensive effort starts with the forward pressure, but Newcastle have won possession back on eight fewer occasions (16) away than at home (24), while much-lauded midfield trio Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Guimaraes have been repeatedly bypassed 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 acknowledged his side "might require a bit of that" ahead of Sunday's trip to the Gtech Community Stadium as he called on his players to bring the "quality, delivery and, most importantly, the mindset".

"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 answer those questions is to perform and get the job done."