Player Ratings: Man of the Match Thibaut Courtois thwarts Liverpool once again

Over the two legs of the League Cup semifinal, Courtois faced 10 shots-on-target.  He let just one of those get by him, Sterling's well-placed effort in the first leg.  Yet he still walked away with the Man of the Match vote last week.  With a clean sheet on the back of four saves in the second leg -- two of those in the first half especially crucial -- Courtois earns Man of the Match honors in the second leg as well.

While he couldn't really do anything about them, having to pick the ball out of the back of his net five times against Spurs was not a good look, to say the least.  And then he had to sit out the next three games anyway thanks to the thumb injury he picked up in the same game.  But now he's recovered and after the back-to-back stellar efforts against Liverpool, I think we can once again rest assured that our goalkeeping future is in safe hands.

Also repeating his place from the first leg, Hazard is once again your second star.  Easily Chelsea's biggest individual threat, Eden came within a whisker of scoring one of the goals of the season.  He did collect a secondary assist with one of the game-high 7 fouls he drew, and was just edged by Philippe Coutinho for the game's dribbling crown (10/16 vs. 9/13).

In his last 10 rated appearances, Hazard has been rated below 8 just twice.  If he continues in this form, we should, in all likelihood get to the end of the season with just the one single match (away to Sunderland) in which we failed to score.

Just the one goal for Mr. Two-goal, but just like most of the 28 he's scored in his Chelsea career, it was a big one.  Add-in the bloody sock, and it becomes even bigger.

Ivanović will make his 200th Premier League and his 300th Chelsea appearance in all competitions on Saturday against Manchester City.  He may divide opinion at times, but his commitment to the Chelsea cause, his passion, his toughness, and his leadership are unquestionable assets to the team.