Stuck in a Rut - Newcastle Need to End Their Away-Day Blues

If ever a short span that summed up Newcastle United's puzzling 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 languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Consider this team 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.

It was their fifth straight 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 finally address 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 method of play that works, that's highly successful," the Newcastle head coach said.

"Somehow we have not been securing victories away from home that we should have.

"Now we're sort of caught in that trap where it's turning into an issue 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.

There was no place 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 demand from ourselves," Burn said. "However, that is 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 score first with a bullet header, always knew that Newcastle would respond against Athletic.

The home side hardly needed any extra incentive to contest a Champions League fixture 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 outcomes certainly support that claim.

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 costly 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 solitary strike.

Away-Day Blues

However 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 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 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 penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least fall back on their solidity as a foundation earlier in the campaign following shutouts 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 the ball on eight less times (16) away than at home (24), while highly-praised 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 "well-known a few years ago for something-housery."

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, delivery and, most importantly, 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 play well and actually do the business."