Oliver Glasner Aims to Motivate Fatigued Palace as Revenge Against The Gunners Looms.

You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a quiet period with his loved ones in Austria before Christmas, instead of gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the campaign—a League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Yet, the notion that Palace might focus on other competitions was firmly rejected by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," declared Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "Should somebody tells me that we are defeated on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the coach anymore."

There exists a clear contrast in Glasner's approach to domestic cup tournaments relative to his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his first complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner selected his best lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a rather controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having been ahead at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to figure out a strategy for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a match that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

A Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has brought the challenges of European football for the first time. These demands are taking a toll on some weary players, many of whom have hardly had a rest all term.

The coach fielded an entirely changed team, featuring four youngsters, in their final Conference League match. However, for the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to choose the majority of his preferred side, which looked extremely jaded as they unusually conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he said.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Team Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The boss must juggle his desire to win a another major trophy with extreme pragmatism. Last year, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game versus Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup match but was compelled 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 move that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning streak against Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and two in a subsequent league win before sustaining a long-term 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 busy fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole full week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is will be like this. We have a beautiful chance to go into the semi-final of a tournament so we will be prepared."

With key players returning from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal pose a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the holiday schedule intensifies.