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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the campaign—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was swiftly rejected by their boss.

"No, I do not believe that," declared Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should anyone tells me that we are defeated on purpose, the following day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a clear contrast in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had already been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his first-choice lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must figure out a strategy for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

A Cost of Success and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the rigors of European football for the first time. These pressures are catching up with several weary squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all term.

The manager fielded an completely different lineup, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his first-choice side, which appeared extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup match but was forced to introduce his "big-hitters" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a move that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning run versus Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since that injury. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

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

Amid key players coming back from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period intensifies.