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Should there be a short span that encapsulated Newcastle United's curious season.

On Sunday, Eddie Howe's team endured a bruising 3-1 defeat against lowly West Ham at London Stadium.

It was a result 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 rankings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park a few days later.

That marked their fifth consecutive 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 hugely frustrating because I think we have a playing style and a method of play that is effective, that's really effective," the Newcastle manager said.

"For whatever reason we have not been securing victories away from home that we ought to have.

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

Home Comforts at 'Secure' St James'

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

They had nowhere for the squad to hide as they were put through what back Dan Burn described as a "deeply uncomfortable" 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. "However, that is 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 respond against Athletic.

The hosts hardly needed any added motivation to contest a Champions League fixture under the lights at St James'.

In his matchday notes, ahead of the game, captain Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "secure environment 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 their own turf in the last month alone.

They have a 70% victory rate at St James' this season. That record should be even better - last-minute goals proved costly 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 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 lacking sharpness 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 netted fewer (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 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 fewer touches in the opposition box (110) and they have only had half as many shots on target (13) on their travels, which highlights the difficulties they have faced penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least fall back 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 visitors 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 "be a bit more ugly", 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, delivery and, most importantly, the mindset".

"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."