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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There is a marked contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the League Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in command. 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 strongest lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final tie ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a slightly controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for payback versus the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week owing to European obligations.

A Cost of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought 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 rest all season.

The coach deployed an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the majority of his preferred side, which looked extremely jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

The Gunners' Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The manager must balance his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly damaged their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was forced 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 "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten run against Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and a brace in a subsequent league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, is expected to begin for the first time since that setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be similar. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid important players returning from injury and a determination to progress, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule intensifies.