It was redemption time for Petr Cech against Liverpool yesterday. At fault for both goals in Arsenal’s opening weekend home defeat against West Ham, the 33-year-old was unbeatable as he denied Liverpool on several occasions. “When you start with a new club and everything goes wrong, you need to bounce back and this is what I tried to do,” said Cech. “Today was one those games where I was in the right place at the right times and helped the team overcome a difficult moment in the first half.”
Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado is set to sign for Juventus after being welcomed by the Serie A club at Turin airport. The Colombia international, who joined the Blues for £23.3m from Fiorentina in February, has been linked with a loan move to the Italian champions. The 27-year-old has made only 15 appearances for the Stamford Bridge side, including four starts. The Premier League champions signed Spain winger Pedro from Barcelona for £21.1m on Thursday. On his arrival in Turin, Cuadrado was greeted by waiting fans and the club posted a video saying: “He has arrived! He quickly found an extraordinary welcome. #welcomecuadrado”
Barcelona full-back Dani Alves could be out for up to a month with a groin strain he suffered during Sunday’s La Liga win over Athletic Bilbao. The 32-year-old was replaced 19 minutes into Barca’s 1-0 win at San Mames after clashing with Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz. Barca did not say how long Alves might be sidelined, although Spanish media reported it could be up to four weeks. The club also revealed the ankle injury suffered by Sergio Busquets in the same game was “nothing important”. The 27-year-old midfielder was replaced by Marc Bartra in the second half in Bilbao after a collision with Athletic striker Aduriz. The champions will hope to have Spaniard Busquets available for Saturday’s La Liga game against Malaga at the Nou Camp. If the worst prognosis of Alves’ injury proves correct, he will also miss a further three league fixtures: away at Atletico Madrid on 12 September, at home to Levante on 20 September and the trip to Celta Vigo three days later.
West Brom have rejected a transfer request from striker Saido Berahino. Albion rejected an offer for the 22-year-old from Tottenham last week and have reiterated their intention to keep him at the Hawthorns. They stated their position is unchanged from 18 August, when chairman Jeremy Peace said that selling the player was “simply not on our agenda”. Berahino was dropped at the weekend, with boss Tony Pulis saying he was not in the right frame of mind to play. In the absence of the England Under-21 striker, who scored 20 goals last season, the Baggies were beaten 3-2 by Chelsea – a result which left them bottom of the Premier League table with one point from three games.
Mario Balotelli will take a pay cut to return to AC Milan from Liverpool on a one-season loan deal. Liverpool are also going to pay some of Balotelli’s wages as part of the move, which is close to being completed. The Italy striker, 25, scored just one Premier League goal after a £16m move from the Serie A club in August 2014. He was left out of the pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia and has been training away from the first team. The Reds have signed forwards Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Danny Ings, while Divock Origi has arrived at Anfield after a year on loan at Lille.