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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet period with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace could prioritize other competitions was firmly dismissed by their head coach.

"No, I do not believe that," declared Glasner following his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm not the manager any more."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's approach to cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the League Cup quarter-finals in his debut full season in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner picked his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight tie concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for payback versus the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week because of European obligations.

The Price of Success and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of continental football for the first time. These demands are taking a toll on several fatigued players, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The coach fielded an entirely changed team, including four teenagers, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly damaged their title hopes.

Arteta had made several changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to bring on his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning run against Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since that injury. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are used to it," said Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is will be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

Amid important players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal present a formidable test for a Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period ramps up.