Gary Neville bets Piers Morgan £5,000 that Manchester United will finish above Arsenal this season... with winnings going to choice of children's hospitals

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Gary Neville has told outspoken Arsenal fan Piers Morgan to put his money where his mouth is following Manchester United's humbling defeat at the Emirates.

The pair have agreed a £5,000 wager over which of their teams will finish higher in the Premier League this season - with the winnings being accordingly donated to either Manchester Children's Hospital or Great Ormond Street Hospital. 

Arsene Wenger's side reacted to recent criticism by producing a mesmerising first-half blitz that brought a brace from Alexis Sanchez either side of a strike from Mesut Ozil to complete a first home win over their rivals since 2010/11.

Gary Neville (right) has bet Piers Morgan that Manchester United will finish above Arsenal this season

Morgan sent Arsenal's celebratory image to former United players Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney

Following the game, Morgan took to Twitter to antagonise his 'United friends' by sending an image of Arsenal players celebrating beneath an enormous Gunners flag to Old Trafford alumni Neville, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand - as well as cricketer Chris Gayle, athlete Usain Bolt and TV personality Eamonn Holmes.

Neville responded by throwing down the challenge: 'Level on points! Bet United finish above Arsenal. 5k to Manchester Children's Hospital loser?' - with Morgan, currently working as editor-in-large for the US edition of Mail Online, accepting and naming Great Ormond Street as his charity of choice. 

Arsene Wenger responded to recent criticism with his team producing a first half blitz at the Emirates

Alexis Sanchez took his goal tally to six from three games with a brace against United on Sunday

Both sides are equal in joint-second place on 16 points after eight games, although Wenger warned his inconsistent side that there is still a long way to travel in the title race.

'We are second in the league - two points off the leaders. It's always excessive. We have played some great games - we've won four away and places where it's difficult to win like Leicester and Crystal Palace,' Wenger told Sky Sports.

'You always need to win the big games, and I played enough in my life to know it's vital for confidence, but you have to back it up with next performance. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Wayne Rooney and Daley Blind trudge off the pitch after defeat

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal admits he was 'amazed' by his side's lacklustre performance

Meanwhile, United manager Louis van Gaal was left 'amazed' that his players could not muster their will to win for such a potentially definitive game.

'I didn't expect that - I was surprised because we didn't perform to our game plan,' admitted Van Gaal. 'We didn't have the will to win and when you are top of the league, I was surprised - amazed even.

'When you give a team like Arsenal so much space to play football then you know you will lose. We prepared ourselves to be compact and not to lose our aggression, so I am very disappointed.'