🔗 Share this article

You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to enjoy a quiet few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than preparing for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace could prioritize other competitions was swiftly dismissed by their boss.

"No, I do not believe that," stated Glasner after his team's side's four-one defeat to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we are defeated on purpose, the next day I'm not the manager any more."

There is a marked difference in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's run to the League Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the team had already been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner picked his strongest side for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having led at half-time. Now, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for revenge against the present Premier League leaders in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European obligations.

A Cost of Success and European Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own achievements. Leading Palace to their maiden major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of European football for the very first time. These pressures are catching up with several fatigued players, many of whom have hardly enjoyed a break all term.

The manager fielded an entirely different side, featuring four teenagers, in their final Conference League match. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the majority of his preferred team, which looked extremely lethargic as they uncharacteristically let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he affirmed.

The Gunners' Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme practicality. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had made several changes for that cup tie but was forced to introduce his "big-hitters" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-game unbeaten run against Palace, featuring seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and a brace in a later league win before suffering a long-term knee injury, looks set to start for the first time since then setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the congested fixture list. "I think this week was the only full 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 competition so we will be ready."

Amid important players returning from injury and a determination to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday schedule intensifies.