The German club, who have reached the knockout stages in four of the last five seasons, are one of just three teams yet to claim a point in this year’s competition and head into tonight’s match knowing anything less than a victory would almost certainly see them eliminated in the league phase.
Villa, by contrast, know a win would almost certainly be enough to guarantee their place in the play-off round while also strengthening their chances of finishing in the top-eight and progressing straight through to the last-16.
But defender Carlos, sent-off when the teams met in the USA during pre-season, is wary of Leipzig and believes Saturday’s scrappy 1-0 Premier League win over Southampton is evidence position in the league table can often count for nothing.
Villa struggled at times against the Saints, who sit rock bottom of the top flight and he said: "Whether you are at the bottom or the top you always want to win.
"You could see that on Saturday against Southampton - I think it will be the same against Leipzig.
"They will have some moments. We were playing the team at the bottom of the table but look at how Southampton caused us some problems
"We only won 1-0 and they had opportunities to score goals.
"Fortunately we defended well and now our focus is on keeping it going and concentrating on the team we are playing - not where they are in the table.”
Leipzig’s surprise position near the foot of the standings can in part be explained by a tough draw which has pitted them against Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and Liverpool, while they were beaten 3-1 at Celtic.
Injuries have also hit Marco Rose’s team hard though they still sit fourth in the Bundesliga table and tonight’s match appeared, at least on paper, Villa’s toughest away fixture in the league phase.
"I know Leipzig may not seem the best team in the Champions League table but every team in the Champions League is a good team,” continued Carlos.
"There are no bad teams at this level, but we will go there and try to win.
"Every player will go there with 100 per cent confidence and we are looking forward to the tie."
Villa’s success, on their return to Europe’s elite club competition after an absence of four decades, has been almost as surprising as Leipzig’s struggles.
Yet after topping the league table thanks to winning their first three matches including an unforgettable 1-0 triumph over Bayern Munich, they are winless in two and enter this week’s round of matches ninth in the standings.
Unai Emery’s men have also failed to score against Club Brugge and Juventus, albeit they saw a last-gasp Morgan Rogers winner ruled out when Carlos was controversially adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
The Brazilian centre-back, part of a Villa defence which has kept four clean sheets in five Champions League matches, will certainly hope tonight goes better than the summer meeting between the clubs when he was dismissed for two bookable offences, the second when he appeared to shove striker Lois Openda to the ground.
That incident may provide an interesting sub-plot as they prepare to face-off on a grander stage. Asked if Villa would be frustrated to miss out on a top-eight spot, considering their excellent start, Carlos claimed his focus is merely on the match ahead.
"I can't think about being at the top, I can only think about the game that is coming next,” he said.
"It's difficult to see us finishing at the top because there are a lot of good teams who have great experience of playing in the Champions League.
"For this team, it's the first time in the Champions League for a lot of our players, because we have a lot of young players.
"But the best players are having a very good competition and are showing their individual qualities. We need to keep going because Aston Villa have a big focus on this competition. “I'm enjoying the bigger league table but the most important thing is qualifying for the next round. This is important for Aston Villa.”