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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a restful few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace could focus on other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," remarked Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "If anyone tells me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm not the manager anymore."

There is a clear difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup competitions compared to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner picked his first-choice lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at the interval. Now, Glasner must figure out a plan for payback against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

A Cost of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has ushered in the rigors of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several exhausted squad members, many of whom have barely enjoyed a break all term.

The coach deployed an entirely changed team, including four teenagers, in their last Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to choose the bulk of his first-choice side, which looked extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to introduce his "key players" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible 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 a brace in a later league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since then setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are accustomed to it," said Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be ready."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule ramps up.