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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful few days with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the campaign—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace could focus on other competitions was firmly dismissed by their boss.

"No, I do not believe that," declared Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we lose deliberately, the next day I'm not the coach anymore."

There exists a stark difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments compared to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in command. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner picked his first-choice lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final tie concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

The Price of Success and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of continental football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with several weary players, many of whom have hardly had a rest all term.

The manager fielded an completely different side, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the majority of his preferred team, which appeared extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable 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 aspirations.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to introduce his "big-hitters" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game unbeaten streak against Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, looks set to start for the first since then 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 rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

Amid important 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 festive period ramps up.