Caught in a Trap - Newcastle Must End Their Travel Struggles

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

This past weekend, Eddie Howe's team suffered a heavy 3-1 defeat against struggling West Ham at London Stadium.

That outcome that left struggling away Newcastle languishing 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 rankings 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 look to finally address their road struggles after not securing a victory on the road in the league since April.

"It's very disappointing 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 should have.

"We find ourselves stuck in that cycle where it's turning into an issue of conversation and we're probably becoming more aware of it."

Home Comforts at 'Secure' St James'

Newcastle's players were certainly made aware 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 "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 uncomfortable conversations and the manager is skilled 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 hosts hardly needed any extra incentive to contest a Champions League fixture under the lights at St James'.

In his matchday notes, ahead of the game, skipper Bruno Guimaraes even wrote that the stadium was a "safe place for us where we know we perform at our peak."

And outcomes certainly back those words up.

Newcastle have beaten Athletic, Tottenham, Fulham, Benfica and Nottingham Forest by an combined score of 11-1 on home soil 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 respective title challengers 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 very different story 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 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 first goal 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 possession away (56%) than at home (47.1%), according to Opta, Howe's team have had 30 fewer touches 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 penetrating defenses.

Newcastle could at least rely on their defensive strength 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 away side 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 possession back on eight fewer occasions (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 physical play."

Howe acknowledged 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, above all, the mindset".

"It comes down to playing a game of football and producing a good performance – no matter where we are playing," he said.

"Our sole method we can answer those questions is to perform and actually do the business."