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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a quiet few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might focus on other competitions was swiftly rejected by their manager.

"No, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner following his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There exists a clear contrast in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut full season in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner selected his first-choice side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for revenge against the present Premier League pace-setters in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

The Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of European football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with several fatigued squad members, many of whom have barely enjoyed a rest all term.

The coach selected an entirely different team, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "no option" but to select the majority of his preferred team, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must balance his ambition to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" 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 "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten streak against Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and two in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since that injury. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're used to it," said Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the only full week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be ready."

With important players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the festive period ramps up.