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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet period with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the campaign—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," declared Glasner after his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated on purpose, the following day I'm not the coach anymore."

There is a clear difference in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup competitions relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the League Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his strongest side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final tie concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a plan for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

A Price of Success and Continental 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 challenges of European football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some exhausted players, many of whom have hardly had a break all term.

The manager fielded an entirely changed team, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the bulk of his preferred team, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The manager 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 against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match unbeaten run against Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and a brace in a subsequent league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, is expected to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta disclosed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are used to it," commented Arteta on the busy fixture list. "I think this week was the only full 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 tournament so we will be ready."

Amid key players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the festive schedule intensifies.