Stuck in a Rut - The Magpies Need to End Their Away-Day Struggles

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

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

It was a result that left travel-sick Newcastle sitting in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Consider this side went on to overtake Real Madrid into sixth place in the Champions League standings following a 2-0 win against Athletic Club at St James' Park a few days later.

It was 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 aim to at last tackle their away-day woes 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 is effective, that's really effective," the Newcastle head coach said.

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

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

Home Comforts at 'Safe' 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 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. "But that's the best way to learn.

"Sometimes you must have some tough talks and the coach 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 powerful header, always knew that Newcastle would respond against Athletic.

The hosts hardly needed any extra incentive to play in a Champions League fixture under the lights at St James'.

In his programme notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we play our best football."

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 statistic should be even better - late concessions 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 single goal.

Away-Day Blues

However 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 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 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 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 highlights the difficulties 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 shutouts 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 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 "be a bit more ugly", referencing how his side were "well-known a few years ago for something-housery."

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, delivery and, most importantly, the attitude".

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

"The only way we can answer those questions is to play well and actually do the business."