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

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

That outcome that left struggling away Newcastle sitting in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

To think 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 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 look to finally address their road struggles after failing to win on the road in the league since April.

"It's hugely frustrating because I think we have a style of play and a method of play that works, that's highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

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

"Now we're sort of caught in that trap where it's turning into an issue of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Safe' St James'

Newcastle's players were definitely reminded 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 demand from ourselves," Burn said. "But that's the best way to learn.

"You have got to have some uncomfortable conversations and the manager is skilled at doing that. He is always straightforward with what he says."

Burn, who went on to score first with a powerful 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 "safe place for us where we know we play our best football."

And results certainly back those words up.

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 statistic should be even better - late concessions proved costly against Arsenal and Liverpool – but these top contenders and Barcelona are the only teams to have beaten Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Away-Day Blues

Yet 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 netted fewer (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's opener against West Ham was a rare example 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 ball control away (56%) than at home (47.1%), according to Opta, Howe's team have had 30 less contact in the enemy area (110) and they have only had 50% fewer shots on target (13) on their travels, which underscores the difficulties they have faced penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least fall back 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 visitors have since leaked five goals in just two matches versus Brighton and West Ham.

That defensive effort starts with the press from the front, but Newcastle have won the ball 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 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 – regardless of where we are playing," he said.

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