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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful period with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the season—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace could prioritize other competitions was quickly rejected by their manager.

"No, I do not believe that," declared Glasner following his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm not the coach anymore."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the League 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. In contrast, Glasner fielded his first-choice side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week owing to European obligations.

The Price of Achievement and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of European football for the first time. These demands are taking a toll on several exhausted squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all term.

The manager selected an entirely different side, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to choose the bulk of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with considerable practicality. Last year, 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 a number of changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game winning streak versus Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first since that setback. Arteta revealed 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. "I think this week was the sole complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be prepared."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a determination to progress, Arsenal present a formidable test for a Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule intensifies.