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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet period 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 with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "Should anyone informs me that we lose deliberately, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a stark contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been eliminated from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his first-choice lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner must figure out a plan for payback against the present Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was moved to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost of Success and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has ushered in the demands of European football for the very first time. These demands are catching up with several fatigued squad members, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The manager fielded an entirely different lineup, featuring four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "no option" but to select the majority of his preferred side, which looked extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, have to," he said.

Arsenal's Perspective and Team Dilemmas

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

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to bring on his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten streak versus Palace, including seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are used to it," commented Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the only full week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is going to be similar. We have a beautiful chance to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be ready."

Amid key players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the festive schedule ramps up.