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Should there be a four-day period that encapsulated Newcastle United's curious season.

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

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

Consider this side went on to overtake 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.

That marked their fifth consecutive home victory, but that was not cause for celebration for Howe.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle look to at last tackle their away-day woes 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 highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

"For whatever reason 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 turning into an issue 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 back 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 uncomfortable conversations 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 powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would bounce back against Athletic.

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

In his matchday notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we play our best football."

And results 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% victory 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 defeated Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Travel Troubles

Yet 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 quarter as many 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 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 fewer touches in the enemy area (110) and they have only had 50% fewer shots on target (13) on their travels, which highlights 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 clean sheets against Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth in their first three road matches of the season.

But the away side have since conceded 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 fewer occasions (16) away than at home (24), while highly-praised 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 physical play."

Howe recognised 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 "skill, execution and, above all, the attitude".

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

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