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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace could prioritize other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their head coach.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "Should somebody informs me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm not the coach anymore."

There exists a clear difference in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the League Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his first-choice side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match ended in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Achievement and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of continental football for the first time. These pressures are catching up with several fatigued players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all season.

The coach selected an entirely changed lineup, featuring 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 team, which looked extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically 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 circumstances are distinct. The boss must balance his desire to win a another major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning streak versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to start for the first since then injury. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the only complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to be like this. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be prepared."

Amid key players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of a spark as the holiday period intensifies.