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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the season—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace might prioritize other competitions was quickly dismissed by their manager.

"No, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner following his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "Should somebody tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm not the coach any more."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup competitions compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team 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 first-choice team for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a slightly controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Achievement and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the demands of continental football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with several fatigued squad members, many of whom have hardly had a break all season.

The manager deployed an entirely changed lineup, featuring four teenagers, in their final Conference League fixture. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his preferred side, which looked decidedly lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he affirmed.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Considerations

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

Arteta had implemented several changes for that cup match but was compelled to bring on 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 situation 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 later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, is expected to begin for the first time since then injury. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the only complete week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be ready."

With important players returning from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the holiday schedule ramps up.