Chelsea player ratings vs Liverpool: Mendy shines, Silva class, and Havertz delivers again

It was a big decision from Thomas Tuchel to start the Senegal international ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga given the Spanish goalkeeper had played in every previous round, but Mendy justified Tuchel's choice midway through the first half with an exceptional double save to first deny Naby Keita and then Sadio Mane from close range.

Mendy did nearly undo that in the second period when a poor clearance resulted in Mo Salah racing through on goal, but Chelsea's goalkeeper had Thiago Silva to thank for bailing him out with a goal-line clearance.

The Blues' number one went on to make smart stops from Diaz and Andrew Robertson and then denied Virgil van Dijk as the game ticked into added time.

Was brought off for the penalty shootout, but without Mendy's heroics, Chelsea wouldn't have got there.

Brought into the defence due to Andreas Christensen's injury, Chalobah produced a good early challenge on Diaz, but the South American was perturbed and continued to run at the academy graduate throughout.

It wasn't easy for Chalobah to keep the Liverpool winger in check – Diaz's pace was problematic – but Chelsea's academy graduate did defend his box well when the ball came in and was confident to stride forward with possession when the opportunity presented itself.

Suffered an early below having been slightly sold short by a Mateo Kovacic pass, but Silva recovered and produce yet another composed performance in the heart of the Chelsea backline.

His crowning moment, however, came in the second period as Silva raced back to clear the ball from under his own crossbar after Salah had beaten Mendy following a poor clearance from the Senegal international.

There is very little new that can be said about Rudiger at this point. His