Premier League fans received an early Christmas present on Sunday as Tottenham and Liverpool played out a nine-goal thriller.
The Reds triumphed 6-3 in north London as Ange Postecoglou’s side once again threw caution to the wind against the championship leaders.
Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah both scored twice, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister on target while James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke scored for the hosts.
Only six times has a Premier League match scored more goals since the competition’s inception in 1992. Here’s how those matches played out.
Reading Portsmouth 7-4 (2007-08)
The highest-scoring Premier League match of all time was an 11-goal thriller between Portsmouth and Reading in September 2007 which finished 7-4.
The classic of the “Barclays” era, perhaps also known for Chris Kamara’s account of the events of Soccer Saturday, saw Benjani score a hat-trick.
Hermann Hreidarsson, Niko Kranjcar, Dave Kiston, Stephen Hunt, Shane Long and Sulley Muntari were also on the scoresheet to add to the nostalgia of this match.
Tottenham 6-4 Reading (2007-08)
Reading were on the wrong side of another top scorer a few months later when visiting Tottenham, who also have a habit of appearing in goal-heavy games.
Postecoglou has this season summoned much of the spirit of the 2007-08 Spurs, with that December 2007 game being one of many high-scoring games they participated in.
This one at White Hart Lane saw Dimitar Berbatov score four goals, with Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe also on target.
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan (2009-10)
Tottenham’s second 10-goal game in the space of a year was much more one-sided as they put Wigan Athletic to the sword.
Peter Crouch scored the only goal of the first half before Defoe took center stage with five, as Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and that man Kranjcar made another appearance.
Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal (2011-12)
Manchester United’s 8-2 defeat to Arsenal remains one of the most iconic and shocking scores in Premier League history.
The pair are two of the country’s most successful teams and have had spirited adventures in the past, but this meeting took place while the Gunners were in full decline under Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal looked powerless to stop United at Old Trafford when Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick, including two free-kicks, and Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, Nani and Park Ji-Sung also found the net. Arsenal also finished the match at 10 men after Carl Jenkinson’s red card.
Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle (2012-13)
Another 10-goal game followed for Arsenal, but this time they were on the safe side thanks to a masterclass from Theo Walcott in December 2012.
The former England winger scored a hat-trick and set up two more in an entertaining festive match in north London.
Newcastle had equalized three times in a 3-3 thriller before the Gunners pulled away, with Alex Oxlade-Chamerlain, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud the other scorers.
West Brom 5-5 Manchester United (2012-13)
The last of Sir Alex’s 1,491 games in charge of Man Utd was perhaps the most bizarre as United played out a 5-5 draw at West Brom.
Having already won the title, the Red Devils – and of course West Brom – decided to put on a show.
United took a 3-0 lead before the Baggies pulled it back to 3-2 through James Morrison and Romelu Lukaku, only for Robin van Persie to spark the hosts into a 5-2 lead.
But just when Sir Alex looked set to celebrate one more of his many victories, Lukaku’s brace and Youssouf Mulumbu denied the Scots great a victorious farewell.
