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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful period with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace could focus on other competitions was swiftly rejected by their manager.

"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "Should anyone informs me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a stark contrast in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's journey to the League Cup last eight in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his best lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That previous last-eight tie ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a somewhat debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must figure out a strategy for revenge versus the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

A Price of Achievement and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the rigors of continental football for the first time. These demands are taking a toll on some weary players, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The coach fielded an completely different lineup, including four teenagers, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "no option" but to pick 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 Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was forced to bring on his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a decisive 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 have an eight-match unbeaten run versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and two in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first since then injury. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're used to it," said Arteta on the busy schedule. "I think this week was the sole 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 last four of a competition so we will be ready."

Amid key players returning from injury and a determination to progress, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule intensifies.