Højlund and De Bruyne score four goals in four days on international duty

Højlund struck first. Denmark lost 2-4 to Portugal in the Nations League on Thursday 1 October, and the Napoli striker's goal briefly brought the hosts level before Portugal pulled clear. It ended in defeat, but for a forward judged by goals, scoring against top-level opposition beats going through the motions for ninety minutes.

De Bruyne, two different goals in the same 3-0

The day after Højlund's first goal, De Bruyne had his turn. Belgium beat Turkey 3-0 on Friday 2 October, and De Bruyne scored two of the three. The first came in the 10th minute, after he skipped past a defender and shot low from the edge of the box. The second came in the second half: a strike from around 25 metres that flew into the top corner. He was substituted in the 83rd minute, with the result long settled.

De Bruyne arrived from Manchester City in the summer of 2025, and at Napoli he is wanted mainly for assists. Against Turkey he showed the other half of his game too — the long-range shooting that decided matches in the Premier League for years.

Four goals in four days, in an international break that is usually a risk for clubs between flights, different systems of play and the fear of injuries. Napoli go into the resumption with both attacking players not just unscathed but already scoring, five days before they host Frosinone at the Maradona on Saturday 10 October.

How much it will actually matter in Serie A is another question. Napoli are ninth with 7 points after five matchdays, and in their last three games — against Como, Inter and Fiorentina — they have seen leads disappear within a matter of minutes each time. That is a problem of resilience, not of scoring goals. Højlund's and De Bruyne's goals for their countries do not fix that flaw, but they remove one excuse: if the attack does not deliver on Saturday, nobody can say confidence was missing.