Top 10 matches of the 2017-18 Premier League season

The Premier League is the most popular league in world football. We've come to the end of yet another captivating Premier League season and the competition has lived up to all the expectations as we have witnessed splendid goals, moments of individual brilliance and compelling fixtures amidst all the drama.

The thrill of such competitive football makes the EPL the most marketable league in the world. The league has some of the best players from world football plying their trade week in, week out.

In this article, we take a look at the best matches of the 2017-18 Premier League that left fans awestruck:

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#10 Final Day drama: Tottenham 5-4 Leicester

With Tottenham confirming their place in next season's Champions League with a game to go, they went into their final game of the season with the pressure off. Erik Lamela and Harry Kane both scored twice as Spurs got past Leicester City 5-4 in a Premier League classic to sign off in style.

Jamie Vardy gave the visitors an early lead but Harry Kane equalised soon after before Riyad Mahrez put Leicester back ahead 10 minutes later. A Goal of the Season contender just after the interval from Kelechi Iheanacho extended Leicester's lead.

It was Lamela who inspired Spurs' comeback with two well-taken goals and a key role in the own goal by Christian Fuchs. Spurs came from 1-3 down to go 4-3 up in a matter of 10 minutes. Vardy pulled Leicester back level as the scoreline moved to a crazy 4-4 with half an hour still to go.

Kane had the last word though as he completed his brace with his 30th goal of the campaign, leading Spurs to a crazy 5-4 victory.

#9 Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea

Clashes between the London rivals always tend to produce goals and it was no different this time either at the Emirates Stadium. The first-half which was littered with numerous chances quite spectacularly ended goalless as both teams were equally wasteful. Alvaro Morata was the major culprit as he was put through one on one with the goalkeeper and quite shockingly failed to hit the target. A fierce Alexis Sanchez strike was tipped onto both the posts by an in-form Thibaut Courtois. Fabregas missed a fabulous chance to score at the home of his former club.

Surely a goal had to come in the second half and a rare Jack Wilshere goal gave Arsenal the lead just past the hour-mark. Moments later, Chelsea won a penalty which Eden Hazard converted to level the scores. In a dramatic finale, Marcos Alonso appeared to have snatched all three points for the champions with just 5 minutes left on the clock, only for Hector Bellerin's 92nd-minute strike to hand the home team a share of the spoils.

#8 Watford 3-3 Liverpool

Liverpool kicked off their Premier League campaign away at Watford. Given Liverpool’s vulnerability on set-pieces last season, it was expected that they would target the Reds with their set-pieces and within eight minutes Watford took the lead with Stefano Okaka heading home a corner. Liverpool equalised when Sadio Mane rounded off a slick and intricate passing move, but Abdoulaye Doucoure quietened the travelling Reds just three minutes later by restoring the hosts’ lead, which they took into half-time.

Mo Salah gave a taste of what was to come over the course of the season by grabbing the second half by the scruff of the neck. He first won a penalty that was dispatched by Roberto Firmino and then went on to score his first Liverpool goal on his club debut to put the Reds ahead for the first time on the evening.

Liverpool had a host of chance to put Watford to bed, but they failed. And they were duly punished late on when they conceded a shambolic equalizer to Miguel Britos from yet another corner, highlighting once again their inability to defend corners effectively.

#7 Chelsea 2-3 Burnley

Defending champions Chelsea kick-started their Premier League campaign at home against Burnley. The game served as a warning for things to come this season for Chelsea.

Captain Gary Cahill was given a straight red card for a two-footed foul in the first 15 minutes. Burnley pounced on the absence of their skipper and took a commanding 3-0 lead going into half-time, with Sam Vokes netting a brace. Chelsea completely fell apart and for the first time ever, fell three goals behind at half-time at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea's new-recruit Alvaro Morata sparked hopes of a comeback with a header on his Premier League debut. Having received a yellow card early in the first half, Fabregas picked up his second yellow and received the marching orders with 10 minutes still to play. Nine-men Chelsea pulled another back to bring the deficit down to 1 with two minutes plus stoppage time to play. Chelsea were unable to find the equalizer though and suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Burnley on the opening day of the season.

This game pawed way for Chelsea's failed title defense as they were unable to pose a challenge to the champions Manchester City. It was also the start of a spectacular season for Burnley, as they ended up qualifying for the Europa League.

#6 Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United

This was a battle between a ridiculous Arsenal defence and a superhuman between the sticks for Manchester United- David de Gea. It was a clash between a decisive United attack which scored 3 goals from the 4 they had on target and a wasteful Arsenal attack that could find the back of the net only once from 33 shots, out of which 16 were on target.

Following school-boy errors by Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard put United 2-0 up inside the opening 11 minutes. Arsenal launched waves and waves of attacks but were unable to find a way past a resolute de Gea

Arsenal finally broke de Gea's resistance early in the second period, with Lacazette lashing home to give the Gunners hope. Lingard then forced a save from Cech, which thankfully crept on to the post and came out. De Gea then produced a stunning double save, each of which could probably be a save of the season contender. This was about when Arsenal might have realized that it was not going to be their night.

Lingard made sure the game was safe with his second of the night rounding off another swift counter that was led by Paul Pogba. Pogba was sent off 10 minutes later, ruling him out of United's decisive derby game the following week. However, United took solace from the fact that they had ended the Gunners' 12-game winning run at the Emirates Stadium. Mourinho also enjoyed his first win on the road in 12 attempts against the big six.

#5 Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham

Having lost 4-1 at Wembley Stadium, Liverpool had a job at hand to make things right. They did just that as Mohamed Salah put the home side up in just 3 minutes. Liverpool headed into the final 10 minutes of the game with a nervy 1-0 lead and all the drama was in store for the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time.

In the 79th minute, Moussa Dembele made way for Victor Wanyama and within a minute of his introduction, he found the back of the net. Wanyama latched on to a clearance from keeper Loris Karius to send a bullet of a half-volley whistling into the top corner. 5 minutes later, Spurs had the chance to take the lead after Harry Kane was brought down by Karius in the box. The Liverpool keeper redeemed himself with a save to keep the game level.

With 4 minutes of injury time left to play, Salah scored an absolutely incredible goal to put Liverpool 2-1 up at the death. He weaved past 3 defenders in a crowded penalty box and then chipped Hugo Lloris to send Anfield into raptures. However, there was still some drama left as Liverpool's fragile defence came back to haunt them. Spurs won a second penalty in the final 10 minutes and this time around Kane found the back of the net to pull the tie back to 2-2, and also notched up his 100th Premier League goal.

#4 Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United

Manchester City went into this derby game at home knowing that a win over their fiercest rivals would clinch them the title with 6 games to spare. However, they were coming off a 3-0 humbling at the hands of Liverpool in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester City started the game in imposing fashion and went 2-0 up in the first half hour. Skipper Vincent Kompany came up with yet another headed goal against United before Gundogan doubled the advantage with a precise finish. The trophy was now firmly in City's grasp and a remarkable turnaround was required to delay City's party.

That was when Paul Pogba came up with an inspirational performance to score 2 goals in 2 minutes to spark a United revival. Defender Chris Smalling completed the remarkable turnaround as he headed in United's third 15 minutes later. City huffed and puffed but were unable to find the equalizer to keep their unbeaten home record intact. Sterling missed a host of chances and Sergio Aguero was denied a clear-cut penalty, but City went down and were unable to clinch the title against their rivals.

However, City were gifted the Premier League crown in the middle of the week as United embarrassingly went down 1-0 at home to bottom-placed West Brom.

#3 Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool

Having suffered an embarrassing a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool earlier in the season, Arsenal knew they would have to be at their absolute best to ensure that the Emirates faithful would have a happy Christmas.

The Reds looked to be on course for another routine win over the Gunners after goals from Philippe Coutinho and Mo Salah either side of half-time put them 2-0 up. Arsenal though, produced a devastating comeback as Liverpool's back-line crumbled yet again.

A mistake from Joe Gomez allowed Alexis Sanchez, who had looked lost until then to make it 2-1. Three minutes later, Granit Xhaka struck a 25-yard thunderbolt which went right through Simon Mignolet's hands. A further two minutes later, Ozil completed the turnaround to put the home side 3-2 up. Arsenal incredibly went from 0-2 down to 3-2 in the matter of just 5 minutes.

Roberto Firmino pulled Liverpool back level with 20 minutes left on the clock, with both teams having a fantastic opportunity to go out there and win the tie. With the first 20 minutes of the second half being played at an incredible speed, both teams lost energy and were unable to fashion clear goal-scoring opportunities to end up victorious.

Neutral fans were treated to an entertaining Christmas fixture between two defensively-flawed teams that just didn't want to stop attacking.

#2 Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City

Manchester City arrived at Anfield with a 22-match unbeaten start to the season, which included a 5-0 drubbing in the reverse fixture. Liverpool made the perfect start to the game as they took the lead with a fine strike from Oxlade-Chamberlain from outside the box. Chances began to fall for both teams as the game opened up with both attacking units in full flight. Leroy Sane came up with a stunning piece of individual skill and followed it up with a masterful finish to pull Manchester City back level just before half-time.

The home side came back out and ripped City to shreds with a devastating attacking display. Firmino latched onto a through ball from Ox, out-muscled Stones and produced a delightful chip over the advancing Ederson. Sadio Mane then got in on the act as he struck the post when presented with a good chance. Within a minute though, he had another chance and he smashed a left-foot bullet from just inside the box right into the top corner. The last of the fab 3 completed the rout, as Mo Salah got on the end of a poor clearance from Ederson to send a 35-yard lob into the back of the net. City crumbled under the intense pressure exerted by the unstoppable attacking unit.

City pulled two goals back in the final 10 minutes through Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan to put fears into the Liverpool defence. But they ran out of time to get the equalizer and with it suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season. This win proved pivotal as the two sides met in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and it was the Reds who came out on top there.

#1 Arsenal 4-3 Leicester City

This was the first match of the season, and it was surely an indicator of what was in store for the rest of the season in the Premier League. A thrilling seven-goal thriller saw Arsenal end up on the winning side despite trailing twice.

It took merely two minutes for Arsenal's new recruit Alexandre Lacazette to put Arsenal 1-0 up. Leicester City responded in quick fashion with forwards Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy putting the Foxes in the lead before Danny Welbeck drew Arsenal level to end a pulsating first half.

Chances kept coming for Arsenal in the second half but it was Leicester who took the lead against the run of play through Jamie Vardy. Heading into the final 10 minutes, it seemed like a 'so near, yet so far' day for Arsenal but the Gunners came back roaring in the final 10 minutes through Aaron Ramsey and super-sub Olivier Giroud to send the roof off at the Emirates Stadium.