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If ever a short span that encapsulated Newcastle United's puzzling season.

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

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

To think this team went on to overtake Real Madrid into the sixth spot in the Champions League rankings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park just days later.

It was their fifth straight home victory, but that was not cause for celebration for Howe.

The upcoming visit to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle look to finally address their road struggles after failing to win on the road in the league since April.

"It's very disappointing because I think we have a playing style 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 becoming a topic of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Comforts at 'Safe' St James'

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

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

"It was clear how far off we were from what we expect from ourselves," Burn said. "But that's the best way to learn.

"You have got to have some uncomfortable conversations and the manager is quite good 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 home side hardly needed any added motivation to contest a Champions League match under the lights at St James'.

In his programme notes, ahead of the game, captain Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we perform at our peak."

And outcomes certainly back those words up.

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

They have a 70% win rate at St James' this season. That record should be even better - last-minute goals 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 single goal.

Travel Troubles

However it has been a completely different tale 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 last-placed Wolves are the only side to have scored less (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's opener 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 fewer touches in the enemy area (110) and they have only had half as many shots on target (13) on their travels, which highlights the challenges 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 first three road matches of the season.

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

That defensive effort starts with the press from the front, 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 "well-known 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, execution and, above all, the mindset".

"It's about playing a game of football and producing a good performance – regardless of where we are playing," he said.

"Our sole method we can answer those questions is to play well and actually do the business."