Premier League fans were gifted with 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 free-flowing league leaders.

Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah both scored twice, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister on target as James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke netted for the hosts.

Only six times has a Premier League game had more goals in it since the competition’s inception in 1992. Here is how those games played out.

Portsmouth 7-4 Reading (2007-08)

The highest-scoring Premier League game of all time was an 11-goal thriller between Portsmouth and Reading in September 2007 which ended 7-4.

The ‘Barclays’ era classic, perhaps equally remembered for Chris Kamara’s recounting of events on Soccer Saturday, saw Benjani score a hat-trick.

The likes of 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 fixture.

Tottenham 6-4 Reading (2007-08)

 

Reading were on the wrong end of another high-scorer a few months later during a visit to Tottenham, who also have a habit of appearing in goal-laden games.

Postecoglou has this season summoned much of the spirit the Spurs side of 2007-08, this game in December 2007 one of several high-scoring games they were involved in.

This one at White Hart Lane saw Dimitar Berbatov notch four goals, with Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe also on target.

Tottenham 9-1 Wigan (2009-10)

Tottenham’s second 10-goal game within the space of a year was much more one-sided as they put Wigan Athletic to the sword.

Peter Crouch scored the only goal in the first half before Defoe took centre-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 mauling of Arsenal remains one of the most iconic and shocking scorelines in Premier League history.

The pair are two of the country’s most successful teams and have served up some feisty affairs in the past, but this encounter came when the Gunners were very much on the decline under Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal seemed helpless to stop United at Old Trafford as 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 game with 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 right side of it thanks to a Theo Walcott masterclass in December 2012.

The former England winger scored a hat-trick and set up two more during an entertaining festive fixture in North London.

Newcastle had equalised 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)

Last of Sir Alex’s 1,491 games in charge of Man Utd was perhaps his most bizarre as United played out a 5-5 draw at West Brom.

Having already wrapped up the title, the Red Devils – and indeed West Brom – decided to put on a show.

United raced into a 3-0 lead before the Baggies brought it back to 3-2 through James Morrison and Romelu Lukaku, only for Robin van Persie to inspire the hosts to go 5-2 up.

But just when it looked like Sir Alex would celebrate one more of his many wins, Lukaku’s double and Youssouf Mulumbu denied the Scottish great a victorious farewell.