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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly rejected by their head coach.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," stated Glasner after his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the manager anymore."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup competitions versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao 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 by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his best side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for revenge versus the present Premier League pace-setters in a match that was rescheduled to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Success and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the demands of European football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with some weary squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all season.

The manager deployed an entirely different side, featuring four teenagers, in their final Conference League fixture. However, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "no option" but to select the majority of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with extreme practicality. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that League Cup match but was compelled to bring on his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning streak versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and a brace in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since then setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're used to it," said Arteta on the busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be prepared."

With key players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the festive period ramps up.