Stuck in a Rut - Newcastle Must End Their Away-Day Struggles

If ever a four-day period that summed up Newcastle United's puzzling season.

On Sunday, Eddie Howe's squad suffered a bruising 3-1 defeat against struggling 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 overtake Real Madrid into the sixth spot in the Champions League standings 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 reason to rejoice for Howe.

Sunday's trip to Brentford was not far from his mind as Newcastle look to at last tackle their road struggles after failing to win on the road in the league since April.

"It's hugely frustrating because I think we have a playing style and a game plan that works, that's really effective," the Newcastle head coach said.

"Somehow 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 'Secure' St James'

Newcastle's players were definitely reminded 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.

"We saw how far off we were from what we expect from ourselves," Burn said. "But that's 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 score first with a powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would respond against Athletic.

The hosts hardly needed any added motivation to contest a Champions League fixture under the lights at St James'.

In his matchday notes, ahead of the game, captain Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "secure environment for us where we know we play our best football."

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 - late concessions 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 very different story away from home.

Newcastle have only won four matches on their travels in 2025 and they have looked lacking sharpness of late.

Howe's side have scored a quarter as many 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 ruthless away from home in the league – just 26 seconds after Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen had struck the post.

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 enemy area (110) and they have only had half as many 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 solidity 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 press from the front, 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 "skill, execution and, above all, the mindset".

"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 address those doubts is to play well and actually do the business."