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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace could prioritize other competitions was swiftly dismissed by their manager.

"No, I don't think so," remarked Glasner after his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There exists a stark difference in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his first complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his first-choice team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final tie ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner must devise a strategy for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

A Cost of Achievement and Continental Fatigue

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

The manager fielded an entirely different team, including four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to choose the bulk of his first-choice side, which appeared extremely jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must balance his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable practicality. Last year, a muscle 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 implemented several changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to introduce his "key players" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning run against Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're accustomed to it," said Arteta on the busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

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