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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a restful period with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace could focus on other tournaments was firmly rejected by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," stated Glasner after his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated on purpose, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut full season in command. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner picked his first-choice side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight tie concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must devise a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

A Price of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has ushered in the demands of European football for the first time. These pressures are catching up with several fatigued squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all term.

The manager deployed an entirely changed side, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

The Gunners' Viewpoint and Team Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The boss must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with considerable practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning streak against Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since then setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're used to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the sole complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

With key players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the holiday schedule intensifies.