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

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

That outcome that left struggling away 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 a few days later.

That marked their fifth straight 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 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 playing style and a game plan that is effective, that's highly successful," 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 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.

There was no place for the squad to hide as they were put through what back Dan Burn described as a "very painful" review meeting 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.

"Sometimes you must 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 bullet 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 programme notes, ahead of the game, captain Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place 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 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 top contenders and Barcelona are the only teams to have defeated Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Away-Day Blues

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

Newcastle have only won four league games on their travels 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 first goal against West Ham was a rare example 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 highlights the challenges they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least rely on their solidity as a foundation 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 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 the ball on eight fewer occasions (16) away than at home (24), while much-lauded 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 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 attitude".

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

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