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Should there be a short span that summed up Newcastle United's puzzling season.

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

That outcome that left travel-sick Newcastle sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

To think this side went on to overtake Real Madrid into the sixth spot in the Champions League rankings 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.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle look to finally address their away-day woes after not securing a victory on the road in the league since April.

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

"For whatever reason we have not been winning the games away from home that we should have.

"Now we're sort of caught in that cycle where it's becoming a topic of conversation and we're likely growing more aware of it."

Home Comforts at 'Safe' St James'

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

They had nowhere for the team 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.

"We saw 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 tough talks and the manager is skilled at doing that. He is always very honest with what he says."

Burn, who went on to score first with a powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would respond against Athletic.

The home side 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, captain Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we perform at our peak."

And results certainly support that claim.

Newcastle have defeated 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 respective title challengers 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 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 netted fewer (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's first goal 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 hit the woodwork.

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 underscores the challenges they have faced penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least rely on their defensive strength 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 away side have since conceded 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 repeatedly bypassed on the road in recent weeks.

Burn has spoken of the need to "be a bit more ugly", 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 "quality, delivery and, above all, 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 perform and get the job done."