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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a quiet period with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the campaign—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their boss.

"No, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his best team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie concluded in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, following a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for payback against the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Price of Achievement and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several fatigued squad members, many of whom have barely had a rest all term.

The manager selected an completely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the majority of his first-choice team, which appeared extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that League Cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game unbeaten streak against Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a subsequent league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since then injury. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole full 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 competition so we will be ready."

Amid key players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule ramps up.