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One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace could focus on other tournaments was quickly dismissed by their boss.

"No, I do not believe that," stated Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should anyone tells me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm not the manager any more."

There is a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy 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 first complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his first-choice team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight tie ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out 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 Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory 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 had a break all season.

The coach selected an entirely different team, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to choose the majority of his first-choice team, which appeared extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The boss must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that League Cup tie but was compelled to introduce his "key players" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game unbeaten streak against Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and two in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, is expected to begin for the first since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're used to it," said Arteta on the busy fixture list. "I think 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 desire to progress, Arsenal present a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule ramps up.