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

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

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

Consider this team went on to leapfrog Real Madrid into sixth place 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.

The upcoming visit to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle aim to finally address 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 really effective," the Newcastle manager said.

"Somehow we have not been securing victories away from home that we should have.

"Now we're sort of caught in that cycle where it's becoming a topic of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Secure' St James'

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

There was no place for the squad to hide as they were put through what defender Dan Burn described as a "deeply uncomfortable" review meeting in the days after the West Ham defeat.

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

"Sometimes you must have some tough talks 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 hosts hardly needed any added motivation to contest a Champions League fixture under the lights at St James'.

In his programme notes, ahead of the game, captain 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 aggregate scoreline 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 - 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 solitary strike.

Away-Day Blues

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 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 less contact in the opposition box (110) and they have only had 50% fewer shots on target (13) on their travels, which underscores the challenges they have faced penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least rely on their solidity 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 conceded 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 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 "adopt a grittier approach", referencing how his side were "well-known 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, most importantly, the attitude".

"It's about playing a game of football and producing a good performance – no matter where we are playing," he said.

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