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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing 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 Carabao Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace could prioritize other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their manager.

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

There exists a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup competitions relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his first-choice team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner must figure out a plan for revenge against the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Price of Success and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the demands of European football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with some fatigued squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all season.

The coach deployed an completely different team, including four teenagers, in their last Conference League match. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to choose the majority of his first-choice side, which appeared extremely jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must juggle his ambition to win a another major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly damaged their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match 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 move that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning run versus Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first 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," commented Arteta on the busy fixture list. "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 chance to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid key players returning from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal pose a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the festive schedule ramps up.