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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace could focus on other competitions was swiftly dismissed by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," declared Glasner following his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm no longer the manager anymore."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner picked his first-choice side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner must devise a plan for payback versus the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week owing to European commitments.

The Cost of Achievement and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the demands of European football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with some weary players, many of whom have barely had a rest all term.

The coach deployed an entirely changed side, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to select the bulk of his preferred side, which appeared extremely jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered 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 tie but was forced to introduce his "key players" after the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten run against Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since then setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested schedule. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is going to be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be ready."

Amid key players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a formidable test for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the festive period ramps up.