Close one eye, tilt your head, and look at the Premier League table. Are Chelsea the team four points away from third place Nottingham Forest or the one equidistant to Fulham in 10th? Can it possibly be both? Is this Schrodinger's Chelsea?

The form book and feelings mean that the Chelsea sliding down the table and the one now glancing nervously at the Conference League as a way back into European competition next year is more prominent. The reality of a top four dogfight, which is really the top five now anyway, means that the other Chelsea aren't out of the equation.

There isn't much of the 'we're not in the title race' Chelsea that was maybe just about briefly in the title race left. Instead, there is a slower tempo, diluted Chelsea. It is one without much personality and, now due to injuries, quality.

This is the sort of team that you get in the hunt for the Champions League places. The true nature is that you don't have to be that good to qualify. There is usually a scrap between at least two or three clubs come the end of a season and it drags on right until the finish because nobody is good enough to take the place for themselves.

Aston Villa and Tottenham did just that last year. Chelsea did it to Leicester City in 2020/21. They have fumbled the ball, recovered, gotten over the line, and then gone again under Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel as well. Maurizio Sarri tried his best not to come third but was eventually put there by Arsenal's inability to take over.

The difference, here, is that Chelsea's run is currently relegation-level. It's only just better than Manchester United in the last 10 games. It's Graham Potter at Chelsea sort of bad. Yet, close your other eye, turn the head again, and Chelsea could easily find themselves only once place behind Arsenal by the time they have played two more league games.

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Maresca's men are the most out-of-form team in the top half. It is probably only United and those who are heading down that are in more strife. But the positive start to the season means that the fight is on.

For 20 minutes against Aston Villa, Chelsea showed the fight and grit at a Tough Place To Go of a side who, in contrast to previous weeks, actually felt and played like they could still make something of this season and it wasn't all happening to them. The defeat showed why Maresca is up against it to meet the goals he has set.

Chelsea can't just let the season fizzle out, though, and have the perfect chance to reinstate themselves. It would be indicative of the club in its current guise to drift away and have only the unglamorous Conference League to play for. With injuries and squad holes all too evident, it is easy to see why supporters are putting tickets for upcoming matches back on the exchange rather than planning to go and watch.

There is a sense of doom and dread, also apathy, that has spread at Stamford Bridge. It still only takes a couple of results to shift the narrative. Just ask Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Both had been on good runs heading into February but have since dipped into inconsistency and are at the centre of this collection of sides who can all realistically believe that they could be spending next season in the Champions League. Brighton and Fulham are probably too far away to be in the conversation now but the gap is not insurmountable to Newcastle or City, both on 44 points.

This is what Chelsea have to keep telling themselves in the next three weeks. The fixture list looks kind - although that doesn't necessarily mean anything as the New Year fixtures held little to be worried about and would go on to spark this collapse.

Southampton and Leicester at home in the space of a week is as comfortable as it can get, though. If Chelsea could select two matches to play themselves into some form then it would be these. In between, they face Danish outfit FC Copenhagen.

The return of the Conference League shouldn't have to be used as a confidence booster but may well take that form. Anything other than four wins in a row here would be a disappointment. All of a sudden, taking the optimistic view, Chelsea are on a slight roll - even if they haven't beaten anybody of note - and can attack the trip to Arsenal.

It comes right before the March international break and, on the face of it, there isn't much to be scared of. Arsenal aren't the same team who were attacking the title last season and plundered Chelsea for five at the Emirates Stadium. Instead, they are fragile, without injured players, and lacking creativity.

Both sides have similar problems and will eye the chance to ruin the other's season on March 16. Chelsea's run before then is generous, whereas Arsenal have high-pressure Champions League matches - albeit in a nice draw - and trips to Forest as well as Old Trafford.

They could feasibly arrive in three weeks as a wounded team with little to play for. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be expecting to get there off the back of some timely wins.

This would leave things in a much healthier position to look at, at least. The race for the top four would still be a tight one in this scenario but the blurred vision of Chelsea might have a positive edge. Tilt your head the other way and it probably still looks very different.