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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a restful few days with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace could focus on other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," remarked Glasner following his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the League Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner picked his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several weary squad members, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all term.

The manager deployed an entirely different lineup, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to choose the majority of his first-choice team, which appeared decidedly lethargic as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must balance his ambition to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. 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 made a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" after 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 in operation—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game winning run versus Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored 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 begin for the first time since then injury. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're used to it," commented Arteta on the congested schedule. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful chance to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

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