Oliver Glasner Aims to Rally Weary Crystal Palace as Revenge Versus Arsenal Looms.

One might excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful period with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth fixture of the campaign—a Carabao Cup last-eight clash with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their head coach.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "Should anyone tells me that we lose on purpose, the following day I'm no longer the manager any more."

There is a clear contrast in Glasner's strategy to domestic cup tournaments relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first full season in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his best team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a encounter with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a slightly debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a strategy for revenge versus the present Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

A Price of Achievement and Continental Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the demands of continental football for the very first time. These demands are taking a toll on some exhausted players, many of whom have barely had a break all season.

The coach fielded an entirely different lineup, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. Yet, for the Arsenal clash, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to pick the bulk of his first-choice side, which looked extremely jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he affirmed.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Dilemmas

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

Arteta had implemented several changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to bring on his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game winning streak versus Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a serious knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since then setback. Arteta revealed the forward wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the sole complete week we had to prepare. The period until February at least is will be similar. We have a wonderful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."

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