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One might forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet period with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th game of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace could prioritize other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," declared Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should anyone informs me that we lose deliberately, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There is a clear difference in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup tournaments relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup last eight in his first full season in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had previously been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his strongest lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for payback against the present Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

The Price of Achievement and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the demands of European football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several exhausted players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a rest all season.

The manager deployed an entirely different side, including four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his first-choice team, which looked extremely jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he said.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are distinct. The boss must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly harmed their title aspirations.

Arteta had implemented several changes for that cup tie but was compelled to bring on his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game 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 subsequent league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since that injury. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is will be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be ready."

With key players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Crystal Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule intensifies.