The 2023-24 Premier League season has proven to be yet another filled with thrills, spills and, perhaps more than ever, late drama.
With half of the campaign almost gone, there have been goals galore and a title race which is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and exciting in recent years.
More than anything, the season so far has been defined by some truly great matches, from high-scoring affairs to some of the latest comebacks and turnarounds in the competition's history.
With that in mind, Sports Mole has compiled a list of the best games of the season so far as a Christmas Day treat.
13. Crystal Palace 2-3 Everton (November 11)
The tone was set for this topsy-turvy encounter right off the bat when Everton took the lead inside the very first minute, with Vitaliy Mykolenko nodding in the quickest goal of the season up to that point a matter of seconds into the game.
Just two minutes later, Eberechi Eze was brought down inside the box following a slaloming run into the area, and he nonchalantly slotted the resulting penalty past Jordan Pickford to make it 1-1 with less than five minutes played.
It was also a quick start to the second half as Abdoulaye Doucoure put Everton back in front four minutes after the restart, putting the ball into an empty net after Mykolenko's volley had hit the post and rebounded to him.
However, Palace fought back once again with Odsonne Edouard wiping out the Everton lead for a second time, only for Idrissa Gueye to then break into the box and scramble home a dramatic 86th-minute winner.
12. West Ham 3-2 Nottingham Forest (November 12)
Another five-goal thriller that swung both ways, West Ham ultimately came out on top from their entertaining encounter against Nottingham Forest in November.
The hosts took the lead at the London Stadium after only three minutes when Lucas Paqueta drilled a low strike into the bottom corner after a mix-up from Forest gifted him possession, but that advantage was wiped out by Taiwo Awoniyi's equaliser just before half time.
Anthony Elanga then gave Forest the lead shortly after the hour mark, although his shirt-off celebration quickly proved premature when Jarrod Bowen rose highest to nod a James Ward-Prowse free kick home just a couple of minutes later.
Tomas Soucek then struck the crossbar as West Ham pushed for a winner, which eventually arrived with only two minutes of normal time remaining as Soucek this time found the back of the net, with Ward-Prowse again providing the assist.
11. Newcastle 1-2 Liverpool (August 27)
On the face of it, a 2-1 away win for Liverpool does not look like anything particularly special, but the fact that Jurgen Klopp placed this comeback win above even the unforgettable 4-0 Champions League triumph over Barcelona says different.
Just three games into the season, Liverpool appeared to be in dire straits when former Everton man Anthony Gordon gave Newcastle the lead after 25 minutes following a Trent Alexander-Arnold error and then captain Virgil van Dijk was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Alexander Isak.
The Magpies piled the pressure on in search of a second goal that would reflect both their numerical superiority and their superiority on the field, but Miguel Almiron was denied twice by the woodwork - one via a world-class stop from Alisson Becker.
That kept Liverpool in the game, and Darwin Nunez came off the bench to produce a stunning smash-and-grab at St James' Park, scoring in the 81st and 93rd minutes to clinch an unlikely victory for the 10-man visitors.
10. Arsenal 3-1 Man United (September 3)
Always one of the standout fixtures of the Premier League calendar due to its defining and title-deciding nature for so many years, Arsenal vs. Manchester United produced another classic in early September.
There had already been drama galore as the clock ticked into injury time, with Marcus Rashford giving Man United a lead that lasted just a minute before Martin Odegaard levels things back up, the referee overturning an Arsenal penalty he had initially given, and then VAR ruling out what had looked to be an 88th-minute Alejandro Garnacho winner by a very marginal offside call.
The biggest twist was still yet to come, though, and it was provided by Arsenal's big-money summer signing Declan Rice in the 96th minute when his deflected strike squeezed past Andre Onana to sent the Emirates wild.
Gabriel Jesus then added a third for the Gunners in the 101st minute of an incident-packed contest as Arsenal wrote the latest chapter in this storied Premier League rivalry.
9. Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal (October 21)
A day to forget for goalkeepers, and particularly one for Chelsea as they threw away a two-goal lead in the final 15 minutes to allow Arsenal to remain unbeaten in the Premier League.
The Gunners travelled to Stamford Bridge as favourites, top of the table heading into the day and against a Chelsea side that had suffered another hugely underwhelming start to the campaign.
However, Cole Palmer gave the hosts the lead from the penalty spot after William Saliba had been penalised by VAR for a handball, before Mykhaylo Mudryk doubled Chelsea's advantage early in the second half.
With debate continuing to rage about Arsenal's goalkeeping situation, newly-installed number one David Raya was caught out of position as Mudryk's mis-hit cross sailed over his head and in, and the Spaniard was very fortunate not to dig himself an even deeper hole later in the second half when he passed the ball straight to Palmer, who this time could not punish him.
Fortunately for Raya, the spotlight was taken slightly off him by his opposite number and compatriot at the other end as Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez made a similar mistake, gifting Declan Rice the ball and allowing the Arsenal midfielder to curl it into an empty net from range.
Chelsea had been in complete control up to that stage, but the mistake allowed Arsenal back into the match and they levelled things up seven minutes later when Leandro Trossard stole in at the back post to convert Bukayo Saka's cross.
8. Manchester United 3-2 Nottingham Forest (August 26)
Having beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on the opening weekend of the season but then lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur five days later, Manchester United went into their August meeting with Nottingham Forest hoping to immediately bounce back to winning ways.
Within four minutes of the match at Old Trafford, those plans seemed in tatters.
Nottingham Forest scored twice in the opening stages of the match as goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly saw Man United concede two goals in the first four minutes of a Premier League game for the first time ever.
No team had ever lost a Premier League match after taking a two-goal lead so early, but Christian Eriksen pulled one back for the home side after 17 minutes to give Man United hope of turning things around.
Casemiro should have levelled things up when he somehow nodded wide with the goal gaping, but the Brazilian midfielder made amends seven minutes into the second half to restore parity.
A red card for Forest captain Joe Worrall then further raised hope inside Old Trafford of pulling off an unprecedented comeback, and sure enough it was Bruno Fernandes who completed the turnaround from the penalty spot in the 76th minute.
7. Man United 2-1 Brentford (October 7)
One year on from hammering Man United 4-0 very early in the Erik ten Hag reign, Brentford looked on course for their first win at Old Trafford since 1937 when the two sides met in October.
Mathias Jensen's 26th-minute strike squirmed past the weak hand of Andre Onana to give the Bees a lead which lasted until the clock ticked into injury time in the second half.
With the Red Devils staring down the barrel of a third successive home league defeat - something which had not befallen them since 1979 - and a third home defeat in the space of a week across all competitions, Ten Hag turned to Scott McTominay off the bench.
While the Scot had been in good goalscoring form for his country, even Ten Hag could not have anticipated the impact McTominay would have when he was introduced in the 87th minute.
Ten minutes later, Man United were in front, with McTominay getting both goals. The first arrived in the 93rd minute when he brought the ball down inside the box and fired in at the near post, before then latching on to Harry Maguire's header to nod past the keeper again in the 97th minute, sparking wild scenes of celebration inside Old Trafford.
6. Tottenham 2-1 Sheffield United (September 16)
September's clash between Tottenham and Sheffield United seemed like a home banker on paper, with Spurs having made an unbeaten start to life under Ange Postecoglou and Sheffield United having only picked up one point since their promotion to the top flight.
However, Paul Heckingbottom's side looked on course for a shock smash-and-grab victory when Gustavo Hamer's 73rd-minute strike went in off the post, giving the Blades the lead against the run of play.
And so it remained until the 98th minute, when Sheffield United's resolve was finally broken by Richarlison's header from a corner.
The Brazilian then played a key part in even more dramatic scenes moments later, laying the ball off for Dejan Kulusevski to slam home in the 100th minute, completing a remarkable turnaround.
Indeed, it was the latest any team had been trailing but still managed to win in Premier League history, and the misery was not yet over for Sheffield United either, as Oli McBurnie was then sent off in the 14th minute of added time.
5. Man City 3-3 Tottenham (December 3)
Few teams have been more entertaining that Spurs so far this season, and they played their part in another absorbing contest when they shared six goals with champions Manchester City at the Etihad earlier this month.
The match started as it would go on, with a goal at either end inside the opening 10 minutes - both scored by Son Heung-min.
First, the Spurs skipper shrugged off Jeremy Doku on a counter-attack and advanced into the area to fire under Ederson and give his side a sixth-minute lead, but just three minutes later the ball deflected off him and into his own net from a Man City free kick.
Erling Haaland uncharacteristically missed a sitter and Doku saw a fine effort come back off both the underside of the bar and the inside of the post before Man City did take the lead, with Phil Foden finishing off an intricate team move from close range.
This time it was Tottenham's turn to come back, though, with Giovani Lo Celso planting a firm low drive into the bottom corner with 20 minutes of normal time remaining.
Man City thought they had won it in the 81st minute as Jack Grealish converted Haaland's cross to end his goal drought, only for Dejan Kulusevski to make it 3-3 in the final minute of normal time, rescuing a point for his side.
That last-minute equaliser was not even the end of the drama, though, with referee Simon Hooper controversially stopping an injury-time advantage for Man City just when Grealish appeared to be through on goal, much to the chagrin of the Man City players, particularly an incandescent Haaland.
4. Luton 3-4 Arsenal (December 5)
Arsenal fans were already hailing Declan Rice's £105m summer transfer fee as a bargain before their trip to Kenilworth Road early in December, and their claims grew even stronger when the England man popped up with a dramatic late goal to win the seven-goal spectacular.
The Gunners had twice taken the lead before that moment, first doing so through Gabriel Martinelli after 20 minutes - although that lead lasted only five minutes before Gabriel Osho levelled things up.
Gabriel Jesus nodded Arsenal back ahead right on the stroke of half time, and that proved to be the start of a flurry of four goals in the space of 15 minutes either side of half time.
Luton made a fine start to the second half as Elijah Adebayo and Ross Barkley both scored within eight minutes of each other to put the hosts in front for the first time, Arsenal keeper David Raya at fault for both goals.
However, just three minutes after Barkley put Luton ahead, Kai Havertz restored parity for Arsenal, and it looked like the spoils would be shared as the clock ticked beyond the six signalled minutes of added time.
Rice had other ideas, though, and he rose to meet a Martin Odegaard cross, glancing his header into the bottom corner to secure another late, late win for Arsenal this season.
3. Liverpool 4-3 Fulham (December 3)
Not only was this seven-goal epic a game of the highest drama, it was also a game filled with goals of the highest quality as Liverpool and Fulham traded blows at Anfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold both started and finished the mayhem, although Liverpool's opener after 20 minutes went down as an own goal as the full-back's brilliant free kick hit the crossbar before rebounding off Bernd Leno and in.
That lead lasted only four minutes before Harry Wilson poked home at the near post against his former club to level things up.
Arguably the pick of the goals gave Liverpool the lead again in the 38th minute as Alexis Mac Allister let fly with a wonderful half volley from range that swerved beyond Leno, but again Fulham responded quickly with Kenny Tete scrambling home a second equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
Fulham then looked on course to end Liverpool's 13-month unbeaten home league record when Bobby Decordova-Reid gave the Cottagers the lead for the first time in the match with 10 minutes remaining, and the hosts were still trailing in the 87th minute.
However, another fine goal - this time from Wataru Endo for his first Premier League strike - saw Liverpool restore parity, but Alexander-Arnold hammered home the winner one minute later to complete an incredible late turnaround.
2. Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea (November 6)
An instant Premier League classic for which a brief summary or even a highlight reel could never do justice, November's Monday night London derby between rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea developed into one of the most chaotic, incident-packed and unique matches in the competition's history.
Aside from the five goals that did eventually count on Mauricio Pochettino's return to North London, five more were disallowed, meaning that the ball was in the back of the net on no fewer than 10 occasions in total throughout the contest.
It was not just the goalmouth action that made the game so bonkers, though, with relentless VAR drama, two red cards, injuries, a hat-trick and Ange Postecoglou's refusal to change his side's playing style when he only had nine men also contributing to a slugfest for the ages.
The game started in fittingly frenetic fashion when Dejan Kulusevski's deflected strike gave Spurs the lead after only six minutes, before Chelsea saw goals disallowed for Raheem Sterling and Moises Caicedo - although the same phase of play which saw the latter disallowed also led to a penalty for the Blues and a red card for Cristian Romero.
Cole Palmer scored that penalty to restore parity, and Tottenham's hopes of maintaining their unbeaten start to life under Postecoglou suffered another blow when Destiny Udogie also saw red 10 minutes into the second half.
Throw first-half injuries to Micky van de Ven and James Maddison into the mix as well and Spurs had every reason to sit back and protect what they had, but instead they pushed up into an even higher line, creating a fascinating game of cat-and-mouse which at times saw every outfield player situated within 10 yards either side of the halfway line.
Chelsea finally unpicked the lock after 75 minutes when Sterling beat the offside trap and teed up Nicolas Jackson to score, although Spurs still almost rescued something from the game with Eric Dier seeing a goal disallowed late on and Rodrigo Bentancur also coming close.
Another two stoppage-time goals on the break against the gung-ho Tottenham approach saw Jackson complete his hat-trick and made the scoreline look far more one-sided than the reality of the match, resulting in the bizarre sight of a Spurs team being afforded a standing ovation by the fans despite having just been beaten 4-1 at home by one of their biggest rivals.
1. Chelsea 4-4 Man City (November 12)
Not only the best game of the season to date, but one which immediately catapulted itself into the conversation of the greatest Premier League match of all time.
Just six days after their madcap victory over Tottenham, Chelsea welcomed champions Manchester City to Stamford Bridge and produced a spectacle that outshone even the North London classic.
The eight-goal extravaganza saw both sides recover from deficits to take the lead, two Chelsea players scoring against their former club including one to rescue a point in the dying embers of the game, and of course a dose of VAR controversy thrown into the mix as well.
That controversy led to the opening goal as Marc Cucurella was adjudged to have pulled down Erling Haaland inside the area, allowing Haaland himself to dispatch the resulting penalty, although thankfully from that point on it was the breathless, end-to-end football which stole the headlines.
Thiago Silva became Chelsea's oldest-ever goalscorer to level things up four minutes after they fell behind, before Raheem Sterling stung his former club to put Chelsea ahead eight minutes before half time.
Manuel Akanji's goal on the stroke of the interval ensured that the two sides went into the break all square, and then within two minutes of the restart Haaland had restored Man City's lead.
Chelsea came back again when Nicolas Jackson reacted quickest to pounce on Ederson's parry and convert, but they looked set for heartbreak when Rodri's 86th-minute drive deflected off Thiago Silva and past the helpless keeper.
However, just as the script-writers would have loved it, Cole Palmer had the final say having swapped City for Chelsea in the summer, keeping his cool to convert a 95th-minute penalty after Ruben Dias had brought down Armando Broja in the area.
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