Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is eager to boost his squad's chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages with a win against RB Leipzig in what is set to be a pivotal match for both teams.
Emery's side have been unable to secure a win in their past two European matches, drawing at home against Juventus and suffering a defeat to Club Brugge.
Despite these setbacks, Villa remains within reach of a top-eight spot and could re-enter the automatic qualification zone with a victory on Tuesday.
However, facing a Leipzig team that has yet to earn any points in the current campaign, Emery is preparing for a challenging match against a side with significant Champions League experience.
He said: "Tomorrow is day six and it’s very important because we can feel we’re close to the next round, but we have the opportunity to be in the top eight.
"They played against Liverpool, they lost. They played against Juventus, they lost. They played against Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Celtic as well and they don’t have one point. They have nil, but tomorrow is an opportunity for them to get some chance to be in the next round.
"I like matches like that because it’s a key match for them to get to the next round – it’s a good match to see how the players face a team with more experiences in this competition than us."
Villa, currently building momentum after consecutive wins including a single-goal triumph over Southampton thanks to striker Jhon Duran, are gearing up for a crucial European clash.
Emery has hinted at a tactical shift after Duran's arrival saw Ollie Watkins relegated to the bench for the first time in this Premier League season.
"They are both very good strikers – each of them are different," Emery added. "Watkins is getting more experiences with the national team and with us in Europe, being consistent, being competitive always in everything we need on the field."
The Villa boss praised Watkins' growing experience and noted Duran's "big potential", saying: "His adaptation started two years ago and it’s much better than the process we had.
"The commitment now for them is to try to understand each moment, playing more minutes or less, is very, very important. The next challenge I have is to play with both.
"We are trying and I will try again to play with both. We have to keep the balance, tactically, playing with both. The team is always first."
Speaking of Villa's European ambitions after their exit in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season, Emery drew on those experiences to set higher goals for the current campaign: "Our expectation at the beginning was to try to enjoy, try to use the experiences we had last year in Europe with another level.
"Even when we lost away against Brugge, it was very good to learn how difficult it is the challenge we faced last year and this year. Tomorrow is a new test. To be consistent as a team is our challenge."
His aspirations for consistency were apparent as he aims to steer Aston Villa to success on the European stage.