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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the season—a League Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace could focus on other competitions was swiftly rejected by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," declared Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should somebody informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup last eight in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight match ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, following a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner must figure out a strategy for revenge versus the current Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was rescheduled to this week because of European commitments.

The Cost of Achievement and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a way, been a victim of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the demands of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several weary players, many of whom have barely had a rest all season.

The manager fielded an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "no option" but to pick the majority of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The boss must juggle his desire to win a second 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 significantly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup match but was compelled to bring on his "big-hitters" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning run versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first since then injury. 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 schedule. "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 chance to go into the last four of a competition so we will be prepared."

With important players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the holiday period ramps up.