Oliver Glasner Seeks to Energize Fatigued Crystal Palace as Payback Against Arsenal Looms.

One might excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the season—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. However, the suggestion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly rejected by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," stated Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 hammering to Leeds. "Should somebody tells me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's strategy to cup competitions relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup last eight in his debut complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his strongest lineup for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final tie concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at the interval. Now, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

The Price 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 a win in the FA Cup final has brought the demands of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some fatigued players, many of whom have hardly had a rest all term.

The coach fielded an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the bulk of his first-choice side, which appeared extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Perspective and Selection Considerations

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are different. The manager must juggle his desire to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace only days after their Carabao Cup comeback significantly damaged their title hopes.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was forced to bring on 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 "incensed" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-game 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 suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first since then setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested schedule. "In my view this week was the sole complete week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is going to be like this. 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 desire to advance, Arsenal pose a daunting challenge for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the festive period ramps up.