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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the season—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their manager.

"No, 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 not the coach anymore."

There exists a clear difference in Glasner's approach to cup competitions versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the League Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his first-choice side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie ended in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for payback versus the present Premier League leaders in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the demands of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several exhausted players, many of whom have hardly had a break all term.

The coach deployed an entirely different team, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. However, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to select the bulk of his preferred side, which looked decidedly lethargic as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Considerations

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The boss must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly damaged their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that League Cup match but was compelled to introduce his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten run versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since then injury. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are used to it," commented Arteta on the busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful chance to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

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