🔗 Share this article

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

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

That outcome that left travel-sick Newcastle languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Consider this team 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.

It was their fifth consecutive 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 road struggles 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 method of play that works, that's highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

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

"We find ourselves stuck in that trap where it's becoming a topic of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Strengths at 'Secure' St James'

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

They had nowhere for the squad 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.

"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 very honest with what he says."

Burn, who went on to open the scoring with a bullet header, always knew that Newcastle would respond against Athletic.

The home side hardly needed any added motivation to contest a Champions League match under the lights at St James'.

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

And results certainly support that claim.

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% 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 beaten Howe's side on Tyneside.

Each by a single goal.

Away-Day Blues

However 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 quarter as many 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 opener against West Ham was a uncommon instance 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 less contact in the opposition box (110) and they have only had half as many shots on target (13) on their travels, which highlights the challenges they have faced breaking teams down.

Newcastle could at least fall back 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 first three road matches 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 possession back on eight less times (16) away than at home (24), while highly-praised 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 "well-known 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 "skill, execution and, above all, the mindset".

"It comes down to playing a game of football and delivering a good performance – regardless of where we are playing," he said.

"The only way we can answer those questions is to play well and get the job done."