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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a restful few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the season—a League Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was swiftly rejected by their manager.

"No, I do not believe that," stated Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "If anyone informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There exists a marked difference 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 charge. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner selected his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final tie ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a slightly controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for payback against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was rescheduled to this week owing to European commitments.

The Cost of Achievement and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, 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 demands of continental football for the very first time. These demands are taking a toll on some fatigued squad members, many of whom have hardly had a break all term.

The manager deployed an completely changed lineup, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his first-choice side, which looked decidedly lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The boss must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered 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 compelled to bring on his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning streak versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a subsequent league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," said Arteta on the busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

With important players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period ramps up.