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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet 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 Carabao Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly rejected by their manager.

"No, I don't think so," declared Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated on purpose, the following day I'm not the manager anymore."

There is a marked contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup competitions versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup last eight in his first complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner picked his first-choice side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having been ahead at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must figure out a strategy for payback versus the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Achievement and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the demands of continental football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some fatigued players, many of whom have hardly had a break all season.

The manager deployed an completely different team, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his preferred team, which appeared decidedly lethargic as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" 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, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first since then setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are used to it," said Arteta on the busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be like this. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be ready."

With key players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule ramps up.