🔗 Share this article

You could excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a restful few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, instead of preparing for Crystal Palace's 29th fixture of the campaign—a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Yet, the suggestion that Palace might prioritize other competitions was firmly rejected by their head coach.

"No, I don't think so," declared Glasner following his team's side's four-one hammering to Leeds. "If anyone informs me that we are defeated deliberately, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There exists a marked difference in Glasner's strategy to cup competitions versus his forerunner, Roy Hodgson. This first became clear during Palace's journey to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been knocked out from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner fielded his best side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, paving the way for a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, following a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at half-time. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner must devise a plan for revenge versus the current Premier League leaders in a match that was rescheduled to this week because of European commitments.

A Cost of Success and Continental 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 subsequently brought the demands of continental football for the first time. These demands are catching up with some exhausted players, many of whom have barely enjoyed a rest all season.

The coach deployed an completely different side, featuring four youngsters, in their last Conference League fixture. Yet, for the Arsenal game, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to pick the majority of his first-choice side, which looked decidedly jaded as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Must. Yes, must," he stated.

Arsenal's Viewpoint and Selection Considerations

On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. The previous season, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game versus Palace only days after their Carabao Cup fightback greatly damaged their title aspirations.

Arteta had made a number of changes for that cup tie but was compelled to introduce his "key players" after the break. Saka was introduced from the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "incensed" over a possible offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match unbeaten streak against Palace, including 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 long-term knee injury, is expected to begin for the first time since then injury. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football signifies to him.

"We are used to it," said Arteta on the congested schedule. "I think this week was the only complete week we had to get ready. The period until February at least is going to 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 advance, Arsenal pose a formidable challenge for a Palace side desperately in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period intensifies.