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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was quickly rejected by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There exists a clear difference in Glasner's approach to cup competitions relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut full season in command. 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. In contrast, Glasner selected his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for payback versus the present Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

The Cost of Success and European 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 has brought the challenges of European football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some weary players, many of whom have hardly had a break all season.

The manager selected an completely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to select the bulk of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup tie but was forced to introduce his "big-hitters" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game winning run versus Palace, including seven victories. 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 serious knee injury, is expected to begin for the first since then setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are 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 period until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal pose a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule intensifies.