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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the season—a League Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace could focus on other competitions was swiftly dismissed by their manager.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner after his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's strategy to cup competitions compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his best team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight tie ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a slightly controversial 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 against the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost of Achievement and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own success. Guiding 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 catching up with some exhausted squad members, many of whom have hardly had a break all term.

The manager fielded an completely changed side, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to choose the majority of his preferred team, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

Arsenal's Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup tie but was compelled to introduce his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game winning streak versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and two in a later league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, is expected to begin 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," said Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to get ready. 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 key players returning from injury and a determination to progress, Arsenal pose a daunting test for a Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the holiday period intensifies.