11 Best Premier League Games of the Season so Far

It's international week, so that means it's a good time to take stock.

Most Premiership teams have played 11 matches now, or nearly one-third of the season.

Which matches were the best?

Well, that's what we're here to decide today.

What did we get right? What did we mess up?

By all means, let us know.

Let's get right to it.

Honorable Mention: Liverpool v Manchester United

When: Oct. 15

Result: 1-1

What happened: LeBron James crossed the Atlantic to watch, and he probably left feeling like he got his money's worth.

It wasn't a great game as a spectacle, but Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Manchester United had all the normal heart you'd expect from the North West Derby.

Steven Gerrard's free kick opened the scoring in the 68th minute after Manchester United's Ryan Giggs jumped out of the way.

Chicharito scored the equalizer 13 minutes later.

Besides the action itself, this game also gave us the Patrice Evra-Luis Suarez racism incident.

11. QPR v Chelsea

When: Oct. 23

Result: 1-0

What happened: It wasn't a pretty game. But it was rather entertaining.

Two Chelsea players were sent off. Seven earned yellow cards.

The visitors also conceded a first-half penalty, which Heidar Helguson converted for QPR's first victory over their London neighbors in 16 years.

The match also gave us the John Terry racism scandal.

10. Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur

When: Oct. 16

Score: 2-2

What happened: On paper, this looks like your run-of-the-mill 2-2 draw. But it was much more exciting than that.

Spurs were on course for the away win after Jermain Defoe’s 68th minute goal. But Shola Ameobi scored the equalizer in the 86th minute to keep Newcastle unbeaten.

They still are, by the way.

9. Sunderland v West Brom

When: Oct. 1

Score: 2-2

What happened: West Brom scored twice in the opening five minutes and seemed to be cruising to the away win.

Sunderland equalized with goals in the 24th and 26th minutes.

Neither team scored the rest of the time, but those opening 26 minutes were exhilarating.

8. Fulham v Manchester City

When: Sept. 18

Result: 2-2

What happened: Manchester City went to Craven Cottage with four wins out of four Premiership matches.

After a goal from Sergio Aguero either side of halftime, Roberto Mancini's men looked set to make it five out of five.

But Bobby Zamora gave Fulham hope with a 55th-minute goal, and Danny Murphy grabbed the equalizer 20 minutes later.

Carlos Tevez nearly scored a late winner but Brede Hangeland made a game-saving block.

7. Manchester United v Arsenal

When: Aug. 28

Score: 8-2

What happened: The game that made us genuinely question whether Arsene Wenger was done at Arsenal.

United took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half through Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young. In between those strikes, Theo Walcott missed a penalty for Arsenal.

It wouldn't have mattered—not with Arsenal defending the way they did that day.

Wayne Rooney scored before halftime to make it 3-0, but Walcott gave Arsenal slight hope with a 45th-minute goal.

After the break, Rooney, Nani and Park Ji-Sung all scored to make it 6-1. Robin van Persie grabbed a consolation goal in the 74th minute before Rooney competed his hat trick and Ashley Young made it 8-2 with a sensational shot.

It wasn't much as a competitive spectacle, and Arsenal fans won't think of it as the best of anything. But neutrals couldn't turn their eyes away.

6. Manchester United v Manchester City

When: Oct. 23

Score: 1-6

What happened: Why Always Me?

That's the slogan Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli had on his undershirt. He showed all of us after scoring the first two goals in City's rout of big brother at Old Trafford.

If neutrals couldn't take their eyes off of Manchester United's 8-2 demolition of Arsenal, they didn't want to even think about looking away from this one.

This one signaled a massive power shift in Manchester. United, the old guard, lost by five goals at home, and it could have been worse.

City took a 3-0 lead into the final 10 minutes before United pulled one back through Darren Fletcher. But then substitute Edin Dzeko scored twice and David Silva added another to make it 6-1.

If not for some poor finishing, it could have been eight or nine.

This match will resonate for years if City win the title.

5. Blackburn v Arsenal

When: Sept. 17

Score: 4-3

What happened: The Manchester United loss revealed the crisis at Arsenal.

The Blackburn loss compounded it.

Arsenal actually scored five times, but two went in their own goal.

Gervinho opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 10th minute. Yakubu leveled in the 25th.

Mikel Arteta put Arsenal back ahead in the 34th and Arsenal entered the locker room ahead 2-1.

It went to pieces from there. Alex Song scored an own goal in the 50th minute, Yakubu grabbed his second nine minutes later, and Laurent Koscielny made it 4-2 with another own goal in the 68th minute.

Marouane Chamakh (remember him?) gave Arsenal hope with an 85th-minute strike, but it wasn't enough.

4. Norwich v Blackburn

When: Oct. 29

Score: 3-3

What happened: After the euphoria of the Arsenal win, Blackburn had its turn with disappointment.

Twice the visitors took the lead. Twice Norwich equalized—the second time from two goals down in the final 10 minutes.

Steve Morrison (53') canceled out the opening strike by Blackburn's David Hoilet (45'). Yakubu (62') and Chris Samba (64') provided the two-goal lead, but Bradley Johnson (82') gave Norwich late hope.

Grant Holt then earned the draw with a stoppage-time penalty.

3. Wolves v Swansea City

When: Oct. 22

Score: 2-2

What happened: Wolves entered on a five-match losing streak. Six looked inevitable after Swansea took a 2-0 halftime lead with goals from Danny Graham and Joe Allen.

Mick McCarthy's players were booed off the pitch at halftime, and the Wolves manager got some of his own boo-birds when he subbed out Adam Hammill and Matt Jarvis.

Kevin Doyle gave the home fans hope with an 84th-minute goal. Jamie O'Hara leveled two minutes later.

Doyle had a chance to win it in stoppage time, but his weak header was easily saved.

2. Sunderland v Aston Villa

When: Oct. 29

Score: 2-2

What happened: First-half goals from Aston Villa's Stiliyan Petrov (20') and Sunderland's Connor Wickham (38') sent the game hurtling towards a tame 1-1 draw.

But the match finally came alive in the final five minutes.

Richard Dunne scored for Villa in the 85th minute, and the visitors must have thought they'd secured all three points.

But Stephane Sessegnon headed home from a Sebastian Larsson free kick four minutes later to give Sunderland a valuable point.

1. Chelsea v Arsenal

When: Oct. 29

Score: 3-5

What happened: See? We don't hate Arsenal.

Truly, even the biggest Arsenal-hater must have been impressed with the Gunners' fighting spirit in this one.

Chelsea took a 2-1 lead into halftime, but Arsenal fought back to make it 3-2 with two goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Juan Mata made it 3-3 in the 80th minute, but by then the match had only just begun.

John Terry's slip allowed Robin van Persie to get behind the Chelsea defense. The Arsenal captain obliged with his second goal in the 85th minute.

He completed the hat trick five minutes later.

Suddenly, Arsenal didn't seem like a club in crisis anymore.