Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho: Opting for Thibaut Courtois in goal at Liverpool was 'easy' decision

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he opted to restore goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to his starting line-up ahead of Petr Cech during the 1-1 draw against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday 20 January due to "the profile of the game".

The Belgium international has been the Chelsea number one during the first part of the season following his return to Stamford Bridge from his impressive three-season loan spell at Atletico Madrid.

But after he picked up a minor injury during the 5-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on New Year's Day, Cech took the opportunity to prove his worth between the sticks with three impressive performances against Watford, Newcastle United and Swansea City.

Some suggested the Portuguese boss was planning to reward the Czech Republic international with a starting role at Anfield.

However, Courtois regained the number one spot and his impressive performance, which included denying Adam Lallana the chance to put Liverpool in the lead with a formidable save in the second half, led him to receive the man of the match award.

Mourinho has claimed restoring the Belgium international to the starting line-up was an easy decision.

"The Premier League is full of top goalkeepers but we have the two best, so for me it was easy. To have both playing well and giving so much confidence to the team is good. I decide according to the profile of the game we are expecting," he said, according to Chelsea's official website.

"It's fantastic for us to have these two goalkeepers. I think the three best keepers in the world are Petr, Courtois and Neuer."

Meanwhile, Mourinho admitted Brendan Rodgers' side created many chances to win the game but believes Chelsea did not deserve to lose because of their impressive defensive work.

"Obviously Liverpool didn't deserve to lose but I'm frustrated because we had lots of situations when we recovered the ball in a low block, facing a three-defender tactical system, with lots of space to counter attack," he said.

"Eden, Willian and Diego were in great condition to attack spaces but we missed so many passes. We recovered the ball and then lost the ball, the exact opposite of what happened against Swansea. Then we recovered the ball and made the right pass, the right choice.

"Tonight it was fantastic defensive work, everybody was committed and organised, recovering the ball against good players, fast players, but when we recovered the ball we were not efficient with the transitions, so to score only one goal frustrates me."