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You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a quiet period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth game of the campaign—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace might prioritize other tournaments was firmly rejected by their boss.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should anyone tells me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach any more."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's approach to domestic cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie concluded in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for payback against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week because of 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 rigors of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several fatigued players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all term.

The coach selected an entirely different lineup, including four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "no option" but to choose the majority of his first-choice side, which looked extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match unbeaten streak against Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since then setback. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means 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 period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful chance to go into the last four of a tournament so we will be ready."

Amid important players returning from injury and a determination to progress, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule ramps up.