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Should there be a four-day period that summed up Newcastle United's puzzling season.

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

That outcome that left travel-sick Newcastle languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Consider this side went on to leapfrog Real Madrid into sixth place in the Champions League rankings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park just days later.

It was their fifth consecutive 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 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 method of play that is effective, that's highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

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

"We find ourselves stuck in that trap 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 definitely reminded of it earlier this week.

There was no place for the squad to hide as they were subjected to what defender 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 demand from ourselves," Burn said. "However, that is the best way to learn.

"You have got to have some uncomfortable conversations and the coach is quite good at doing that. He is always very honest with what he says."

Burn, who went on to score first with a powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would bounce back against Athletic.

The home side hardly needed any added motivation to play in a Champions League fixture 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 play our best football."

And outcomes certainly support that claim.

Newcastle have defeated 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% victory 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 beaten Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Travel Troubles

Yet 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 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 rare example of this side being clinical 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 enemy area (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 defensive strength as a base to build from earlier in the campaign following shutouts 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 less times (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 "adopt a grittier approach", referencing how his side were "renowned a few years ago for something-housery."

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 "quality, execution and, above all, the mindset".

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

"Our sole method we can address those doubts is to perform and get the job done."