Watkins meets Toney in Saudi's biggest derby

World Cup teammates, Saudi rivals

Not long ago, Watkins and Toney were standing in the same England attack, trying to work out how to beat a third-place opponent together. Now they are on opposite sides of the most-watched domestic fixture in Saudi football, in a city where both of them have chosen to take their careers next.

Toney has been at Al-Ahli long enough to settle. Watkins is the new arrival, signed from Villa and still in the early weeks of life at Al-Hilal. Tuesday's match is, by some distance, the quickest possible way to make an impression.

What Tuchel is actually watching

The England angle here is real, even if no squad announcement is imminent. Tuchel has shown he is willing to cast his net wide when it comes to striker selection, and two of his options are now playing in the same league, against each other, in a game that will have genuine stakes attached.

Neither player has made themselves impossible to recall by moving to Saudi Arabia, the door has not been shut, but both know that form in a high-profile fixture carries more weight than form in an anonymous one. This is not an anonymous fixture.

According to The Guardian, the match is being positioned as the first major title-race clash of the Saudi season, which means both clubs will want their strikers to show up when the lights are brightest.

The personal duel

Watkins and Toney are different players. Watkins runs channels, presses relentlessly, and makes the kind of movement that defenders hate tracking for 90 minutes. Toney holds, links, and finishes with a composure that borders on unsettling. They complemented each other in an England shirt. In a Riyadh derby, those same qualities become a direct competition.

Tuchel has a squad sheet with striker questions still open, and both men are answering them in the same fixture on Tuesday night.