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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet period with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the campaign—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was swiftly rejected by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the following day I'm not the manager any more."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner picked his best lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final tie ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner must devise a strategy for payback versus the present Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European commitments.

The Price of Success and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the demands of European football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some exhausted squad members, many of whom have hardly had a rest all term.

The coach deployed an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to choose the bulk of his preferred team, which looked extremely lethargic as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Considerations

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The boss must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was forced to bring on his "key players" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a decisive goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning run versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and a brace in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to begin for the first since that setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be ready."

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.