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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful few days with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace could focus on other tournaments was swiftly dismissed by their head coach.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner after his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If anyone informs me that we lose deliberately, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's run to the League Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the club had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his strongest lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight match concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for revenge against the present Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week because of European obligations.

A Price of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the rigors of European football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several exhausted players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all term.

The manager fielded an completely different team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the bulk of his first-choice team, which appeared extremely jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Considerations

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made several changes for that League Cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match unbeaten run against Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "I think this week was the sole complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a wonderful chance to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid important players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the holiday schedule ramps up.