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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace could prioritize other competitions was quickly rejected by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we are defeated on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the manager any more."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's approach to cup competitions compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner selected his strongest lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having been ahead at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must devise a strategy for revenge versus the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

A Cost of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of European football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several exhausted players, many of whom have barely enjoyed a rest all term.

The coach deployed an completely changed team, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his preferred team, which appeared extremely jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The boss must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup tie but was forced to bring on his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game winning run versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and two in a subsequent league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first since that injury. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal pose a formidable test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule intensifies.