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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the season—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might focus on 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 somebody informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the following day I'm not the manager any more."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the League Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final tie ended in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for revenge against the present Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week because of European obligations.

The Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a victim of his own success. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the rigors of European football for the first time. These demands are taking a toll on several fatigued players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all season.

The manager deployed an entirely changed lineup, featuring four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his first-choice side, which looked extremely lethargic as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Dilemmas

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

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled to bring on his "key players" after the break. Saka was introduced from 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 scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning run versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a subsequent league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since that injury. Arteta disclosed the striker 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 sole complete week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is will be like this. We have a beautiful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

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