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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet period with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the campaign—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace might prioritize other competitions was firmly rejected by their boss.

"No, I don't think so," declared Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we lose deliberately, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There is a clear difference in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup competitions compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's journey to the League Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in command. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his strongest team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight match ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a somewhat debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for payback versus the current Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost 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 victory in the FA Cup final has ushered in the demands of European football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some exhausted players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all term.

The coach deployed an entirely changed team, including four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to choose the bulk of his preferred team, which appeared extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The manager must balance his ambition 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 greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that cup match but was forced to introduce his "big-hitters" 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 in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning run versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and two in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first since that injury. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies 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 prepare. The rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

With important players returning from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the festive schedule intensifies.