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

This past weekend, Eddie Howe's squad endured a heavy 3-1 loss against struggling West Ham at London Stadium.

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

Consider this team went on to leapfrog Real Madrid into the sixth spot in the Champions League rankings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park just days later.

It was their fifth straight home victory, but that was not cause for celebration for Howe.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle aim to at last tackle 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 playing style and a method of play that is effective, that's really effective," the Newcastle manager said.

"Somehow 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 becoming a topic of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Comforts at 'Safe' St James'

Newcastle's squad were definitely reminded of it earlier this week.

They had nowhere for the team to hide as they were subjected to what back Dan Burn described as a "very painful" review meeting 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.

"Sometimes you must have some tough talks and the manager 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 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 defeated 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 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 defeated Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Travel Troubles

However 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 bottom of the table Wolves are the only side to have scored less (one) on the road.

Jacob Murphy's first goal 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 half as many shots on target (13) on their travels, which underscores the difficulties they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least fall back 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 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 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 something-housery."

Howe acknowledged 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, execution and, above all, the mindset".

"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 perform and actually do the business."