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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a restful period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the season—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was quickly rejected by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," declared Glasner following his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "Should anyone tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm not the coach anymore."

There is a clear difference in Glasner's strategy to cup competitions compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut full season in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his strongest lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final tie concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for revenge versus the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own achievements. Leading 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 several weary players, many of whom have barely had a break all season.

The manager deployed an entirely changed side, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to pick the bulk of his preferred side, which looked extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he said.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that League Cup tie but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off 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 in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten run against Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, looks set to start for the first since that setback. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful chance to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be ready."

With important players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period intensifies.