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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might prioritize other competitions was swiftly dismissed by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," remarked Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we are defeated on purpose, the next day I'm not the coach anymore."

There is a marked difference in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments compared to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner selected his strongest team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner must figure out a plan for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost of Achievement and European Exhaustion

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 brought the challenges of European football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with some fatigued players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all season.

The manager deployed an entirely changed lineup, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the bulk of his preferred team, which appeared decidedly lethargic as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Selection Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The manager must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly harmed their title hopes.

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

Arsenal have an eight-game winning run versus Palace, featuring seven victories. 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 long-term knee injury, looks set to start for the first since then injury. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're used to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is will be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be ready."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule intensifies.