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

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

That outcome that left struggling away Newcastle languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Consider this side 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 just days later.

That marked their fifth straight 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 away-day woes after failing to win on the road in the league since April.

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

They had nowhere for the team to hide as they were put through what defender 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 tough talks and the manager is quite good at doing that. He is always very honest with what he says."

Burn, who went on to score first with a bullet header, always knew that Newcastle would bounce back against Athletic.

The hosts hardly needed any extra incentive to play in a Champions League fixture 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 perform at our peak."

And results certainly back those words up.

Newcastle have beaten Athletic, Tottenham, Fulham, Benfica and Nottingham Forest by an combined score 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 damaging 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

Yet it has been a completely different tale away from home.

Newcastle have only won four league games on their travels 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 scored less (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 possession 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 underscores the difficulties they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least rely on their solidity as a base to build from 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 conceded five goals in just two matches versus Brighton and West Ham.

That defensive effort starts with the forward pressure, but Newcastle have won the ball on eight less times (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 "adopt a grittier approach", referencing how his side were "renowned a few years ago for something-housery."

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 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 address those doubts is to play well and get the job done."