Things appear to be falling into place for Manchester United.

After some regrettable setbacks involving Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney being suspended, the Red Devils appear to have numerous reasons to be positive about their outlook.

First, the club has a seven-point lead on a beleaguered Arsenal squad that has more problems at goalkeeper. The Gunners are also hampered by injuries to their central defense, and have struggled to defeat some less than formidable opponents.

Should Manchester United defeat or draw with Arsenal when the two face each other at Emirates Stadium on May 1st, the Premier League title will probably belong to the Red Devils.

Second, Manchester United will face their crosstown foes Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday. This season, the Citizens have only managed one goal against the Red Devils in two matches, which included a scoreless draw on their home field and 2-1 loss at Old Trafford that involved a classic goal by Wayne Rooney.

City is also coming off a 3-0 thrashing by Liverpool on Monday at Anfield.

Should Manchester United get by their local rivals, they will play the winner of Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers.

Both Stoke and Bolton have a draw and a loss to Manchester United. The Red Devils certainly haven't breezed by the two clubs, but Manchester United will clearly be the favorites.

Then there is the Champions League. Ferguson's squad will face Schalke 04 in the semi-finals, a ninth-place team in the Bundesliga. Certainly, Manchester United will not underestimate a team that found its way this deep into the Champions League competition and has come off a 7-3 aggregate beating of 2010 Champion Inter Milan.

But as far as semi-final opponents go, Manchester United could have fared much worse. While Barcelona and Real Madrid battle each other with rivalry venom, the Red Devils can face a Schalke team that must view their inclusion into the semi-finals with a degree of surreality.

Should Manchester United hold off the underdog German club, the Champions League final will be played in the familiar surroundings of Wembley Stadium.

Lastly, Manchester United are simply playing excellent. This team now has important pieces back in central defender Rio Ferdinand and Ji-Sung Park.

And it's not as though the Red Devils were playing poorly without them. Chris Smalling did a more than admirable job in central defense.

Meanwhile, the attack has seemed unstoppable at times. Rooney has been playing at peak form, while Javier Hernandez remains one of the most dangerous players in the world.

How loaded is Manchester United? Dimitar Berbatov has a clear lead in the Premier League scoring race, and he has been on the bench in recent games.

It's hard to imagine that Ferguson isn't elated about this team's prospects at the moment.

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