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Should there be a four-day period that summed up Newcastle United's puzzling season.

This past weekend, Eddie Howe's team endured a heavy 3-1 loss 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 team 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.

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

The upcoming visit to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle aim to at last tackle their road struggles 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 method of play that is effective, that's highly successful," the Newcastle manager said.

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

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

Home Strengths at 'Secure' 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 defender Dan Burn described as a "deeply uncomfortable" review meeting in the days after the West Ham defeat.

"We saw 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 tough talks and the manager is skilled at doing that. He is always very honest 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 extra incentive to play in a Champions League match under the lights at St James'.

In his programme notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "secure environment for us where we know we perform at our peak."

And outcomes 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% win rate at St James' this season. That record should be even better - last-minute goals proved damaging 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 solitary strike.

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 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 scored less (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's opener against West Ham was a uncommon instance 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 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 challenges they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least fall back on their defensive strength 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 the ball on eight fewer occasions (16) away than at home (24), while much-lauded 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 "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, most importantly, the attitude".

"It's about playing a game of football and producing a good performance – no matter where we are playing," he said.

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