Aston Villa (13/8 Top Half Finish) defender Axel Tuanzebe says Dean Smith's proactive attitude to his side's poor run is giving his players the belief that they can climb the table.

Despite losing Jack Grealish in the summer, the Villans were expected to push for Europe having been praised for the manner in which they reinvested the money they received for the England man.

However, they have struggled for consistency, starting Sunday in 15th in the Premier League on the back of three straight defeats.

In contrast, the visitors to Birmingham, West Ham United (Match Betting - Aston Villa 17/10, Draw 13/5, West Ham 13/8), sit fourth in the table, have won all three of their Europa League games and beat Manchester City on penalties in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

While confidence is high in David Moyes' squad, similar belief might be lacking in the Villa camp, but Tuanzebe says the way Smith has conducted himself has helped his team maintain their confidence.

Tuanzebe told the club website: "I've been in environments where coaches go up and down, and having someone who acts the same around the lads, demands the same, doesn't go missing and become moody is actually very refreshing.

"For me, it makes me feel that the gaffer still believes in us and that I want to put in a performance come the weekend."

Villa could hand summer signing Leon Bailey a first start, while West Ham have on-loan midfielder Alex Kral back available following illness.

In Sunday's early game, the Premier League's two lowest-scoring sides meet at Carrow Road as Norwich City host Leeds United (Match Betting - Norwich 11/4, Draw 11/4, Leeds Evens).

The rock-bottom Canaries come into the match on the back of last Saturday's 7-0 defeat at Chelsea and their winless run over their last two Premier League campaigns now stands at 19 games.

Leeds have been boosted by the news that Raphinha has recovered from the ankle injury suffered in their 1-1 draw against Wolves.

Marcelo Bielsa's men sit 18th in the table and Norwich striker Teemu Pukki (11/8 Anytime Goalscorer) has warned them to expect a performance.

"We've been training quite hard and I feel like we're ready to get three points on Sunday," he told the club website.

"It was a tough game last week, the biggest thing is to forget the game. It was a bad game from us, from all the players. I don't think anyone could say they did a good job in that game.

"The most important thing is to just forget and we need to improve. We've been training quite hard this week on our tactics so we should be prepared for Leeds on Sunday."

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