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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might prioritize other competitions was firmly dismissed by their head coach.

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

There is a marked contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best lineup for wins 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, thanks to a somewhat debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for revenge against the present Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the demands of European football for the first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several fatigued squad members, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The coach fielded an completely different lineup, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the majority of his first-choice team, which looked extremely jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

The Gunners' Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup match but was forced to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match unbeaten streak against Palace, including seven victories. 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 since that setback. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested fixture list. "I think this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be prepared."

Amid key players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period intensifies.