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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet period with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace could prioritize other tournaments was swiftly rejected by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," remarked Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should somebody informs me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his first full season in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a slightly controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must figure out a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European commitments.

The Price of Success and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the rigors of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several exhausted squad members, many of whom have hardly had a break all season.

The coach selected an completely changed team, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his preferred team, which looked extremely jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

The Gunners' Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The boss must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that cup tie but was forced to bring on his "key players" 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 in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game unbeaten streak against Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the busy fixture list. "I think this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is will be like this. We have a beautiful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be prepared."

With important players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal pose a daunting challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the festive period ramps up.