Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith is now of the opinion that a 'mini-league' of sorts has opened up between the bottom six sides.

Watford, Brighton, Villa, Bournemouth, Norwich, West Ham have played themselves into relegation contention, with three from those six set to drop into the Championship.

With six clubs now in firm focus for a survival battle, Villa will know the results that they will need to look out for as the season heads towards the end.

The competitors in the league won't all play each other, and it'll be fairly asymmetrical - with Villa having a one game advantage over the others.

That came with a penalty, though. Heading into Project Restart, Villa were two points behind both West Ham and Bournemouth.

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And if they can come out on top, they'll survive the drop, but they'll have to rely on others dropping points elsewhere.

But what league table is without that sort of drama?

With three set to drop from six teams, Villa find themselves in a position where in actual fact - they only need to better the results of three teams.

In that respect, so far? So good. If you're feeling down about Villa's chances, a good idea would be to compare them with the only teams that really matter to the club - the other members of the bottom six.

Breaking down the performances of the bottom six, Brighton have clearly earned their plaudits - but with two rounds of fixtures done and dusted (Villa have had three games), it's Smith's side that look one of the better teams out of a poor bunch.

That shouldn't buoy mindless optimism, nor relentless negativity. The Villans look about as good as 17th place in the table.

That doesn't mean they aren't trapped in a paradox though. They have made minor improvements, but there isn't enough of a sample size to say whether that makes a major difference, or whether the difference between now and March will provide a tangible return.

What's Villa's problem then?

They have been unimpressive in front of goal, sloppy at the back and wasteful with their possession and reluctance to take the ball - but that goes for a number of other clubs as well. Brighton didn't make the most of their own chances against Leicester, Norwich fell apart against Southampton and Everton, Watford had to rely on a late stunner for their point while the less said about Bournemouth and West Ham's last two matches, the better.

In fact, hindsight pays off particularly well when three matches are lined up - namely Bournemouth vs Wolves, West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur and Villa vs Chelsea.

While West Ham stepped up their game against Spurs, they were left bemoaning 'what if's based on speculative efforts. Tottenham opened them up well, and created good chances. The Hammers spent their post-game talking about a hopeful hit in a crowded box that slammed off the post. Still, that's little more than a off target shot that makes a bang.

As for the Cherries, it'd take them around sixteen games to score based on their efforts against Wolves which resulted in 0.06 xG according to Understat's data model. They were barely much better against Palace.

This should make positive reading for Villa fans. While the club has lacked a clinical edge, they are the best 'attacking' team in terms of pure chance creation in this 'mini-league' so far. The issue? A lack of balance, and a mixture of bad luck and poor technique in the face of goal. A focus on 'defensive organisation' has been opened up by sloppy errors, leading to any positives to quickly dissolve in an instant. If Villa could score, it wouldn't be an issue, but they can't really do that right now.

At the very least, making errors is something of a positive in that Villa have control over it. They can work on it (despite evidence showing that mistakes have happened all season long), but the point still stands. If you're conceding chances, and not making any, as a result of normal play - that's a huge issue. When it comes to Villa's own worst enemy, they need to look directly in the mirror.

That's a much better situation right now than the one facing Bournemouth and West Ham, who all of a sudden find themselves in an 'all the gear and no idea' situation.

However, there's a big caveat once more. It's all well and good making chances - but if you can't convert them, that's a huge issue.

Between Villa's three senior strikers, there's a single league goal. When considering the other teams, it's very easy to cast a jealous glance over at Callum Wilson, Neal Maupay, Troy Deeney ,Teemu Pukki or anyone else in a centre-forward position that has at least scored multiple goals. Other clubs in the bottom six boast more firepower.

However, they aren't - for the most part - being provided with the amount, or the quality, of chances that Villa are putting on a plate.

Tyrone Mings wasn't too happy.

It's a rather philosophical question. Would you rather be in Villa's position with a strong forward, but find yourself lacking chances - or would you rather supply poorer forwards with plenty of opportunity?

Villa have had to rely on Trezeguet, Keinan Davis and Kortney Hause for their chances in the face of goal. You'd not bet your house on them scoring, either.

Ignoring Hause's double effort that padded the stats against Chelsea, Villa are still towering above the teams they need to concern themselves with when it comes to making scoring opportunities. Three games have made positive reading for Villa in terms of chances created, more so than the other five teams in the relegation 'league' - but those haven't converted into points.

The kingdom for a goalscoring forward. Villa are seemingly - through three games - adept at making chances, just not at converting them, and that might end up making the difference between stumbling into 17th, or missing out.

Clinical, would be the word - and that goes for the defense as well as the attack.

Smith's side still have a valid chance of survival, and have clawed themselves to almost even footing with West Ham and Bournemouth. Out of the bottom six - and ignoring one game Watford - Brighton and Villa are the most impressive sides from a poor stack of teams. One has points to show for it, though.

Being 'alright' in itself won't keep Villa up, and while they could've restarted their season much better, it could be so much worse without considering the fact that the survival battle isn't entirely in their hands.

While Villa do need to kick-on and find results, the same goes for the Hammers and Bournemouth. It's all well and good making chances and racking up xG, but that'd be a better thing during the full run of a season, when such an average may balance out to reflect a better Villa team.

That's not the case in this run-in. Villa can't wait around to 'come good' like they may if this was the start of a new season. They need to start converting their set-pieces and chances as soon as Saturday to give them a better chance of survival.

What's more it needs repeating that a tough run of fixtures won't aid Villa at all. Based on evidence, Villa could go a few games without a point. Especially so if the defense falls asleep, and even more so if they continue to miss the target.

And while they don't seem in a much better place than before, it's still an upgrade on the team that stumbled through March and February.

Then again, almost anything would've been.