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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful period with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace could focus on other competitions was firmly rejected by their head coach.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "Should somebody tells me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There exists a marked contrast in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup tournaments compared to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his debut full season in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a somewhat debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for payback versus the present Premier League pace-setters in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Price of Success and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the challenges of continental football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some weary squad members, many of whom have hardly had a rest all season.

The coach selected an entirely different side, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to choose 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, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with considerable practicality. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was forced to bring on his "key players" following the break. Saka came off 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 available—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning run versus Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and two in a subsequent league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, is expected to begin for the first since that injury. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

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

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