Glasner Hopes to Motivate Jaded Palace as Revenge Against Arsenal Looms.

You could excuse Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a restful period with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the season—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might focus on other tournaments was firmly rejected by their manager.

"Absolutely not, I don't think so," declared Glasner after his team's side's 4-1 loss to Leeds. "If somebody informs me that we lose deliberately, the following day I'm not the coach any more."

There exists a clear contrast in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the League Cup last eight in his debut full season in command. 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. In contrast, Glasner picked his first-choice lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.

That prior last-eight match concluded in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, due to a somewhat debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Now, Glasner must devise a strategy for payback against the current Premier League pace-setters in a match that was moved to this week owing to European obligations.

The Cost of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a sense, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with victory in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the rigors of European football for the very first time. These demands are taking a toll on some weary players, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The manager deployed an entirely different team, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. 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 decidedly jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he affirmed.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Dilemmas

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The boss must balance his ambition to win a another major trophy with considerable practicality. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka sustained in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made several changes for that League Cup tie but was compelled to introduce his "key players" following the break. Saka came off 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 situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match winning streak versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and a brace in a later league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, looks set to start for the first since that setback. Arteta revealed the striker wrote a "beautiful" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We are used to it," said Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the only full week we had to get ready. The rest until February at least is going to be similar. We have a wonderful opportunity to go into the last four of a competition so we will be prepared."

With important players coming back from injury and a desire to progress, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period intensifies.