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You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. However, the notion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was quickly rejected by their boss.

"No, I don't think so," remarked Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the manager anymore."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's approach to domestic cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup last eight in his debut full season in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his strongest side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight match concluded in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather 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 payback against the current Premier League pace-setters in a fixture that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

A Cost of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently brought the rigors of European football for the very first time. These demands are taking a toll on several exhausted players, many of whom have barely enjoyed a break all season.

The coach selected an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to select the majority of his preferred team, which appeared extremely lethargic as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he said.

The Gunners' Perspective and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The manager must juggle his ambition to win a another major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup match but was forced to bring on his "big-hitters" 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 available—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning streak versus Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup meeting and a brace in a subsequent league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested fixture list. "I think this week was the sole complete week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is going to be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be prepared."

Amid important players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the holiday period ramps up.