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

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

That outcome that left travel-sick Newcastle sitting in the lower reaches 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 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 not securing a victory on the road in the league since April.

"It's hugely frustrating because I think we have a playing style and a game plan that works, that's highly successful," the Newcastle manager said.

"Somehow we have not been winning the games away from home that we ought to have.

"We find ourselves stuck in that cycle where it's becoming a topic of conversation and we're likely growing more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Safe' St James'

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

There was no place for the team to hide as they were subjected to what defender 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 expect from ourselves," Burn said. "But that's the best way to learn.

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

In his programme notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place 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 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 - late concessions proved damaging against Arsenal and Liverpool – but these respective title challengers and Barcelona are the only teams to have beaten 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 league games 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 last-placed Wolves are the only side to have scored less (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's opener 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 struck the post.

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 penetrating defenses.

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 leaked five goals in just two matches versus Brighton and West Ham.

That backline work starts with the forward pressure, 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 "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 "skill, execution and, most importantly, the attitude".

"It's about 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 play well and actually do the business."