Glasner Aims to Motivate Fatigued Palace as Payback Against The Gunners Beckons.

One might excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to spend a quiet few days with his family in Austria before Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the season—a League Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. However, the idea that Palace might focus on other competitions was firmly dismissed by their boss.

"Absolutely not, I do not believe that," remarked Glasner following his team's side's 4-1 defeat to Leeds. "Should anyone informs me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm not the manager anymore."

There is a stark difference in Glasner's philosophy to domestic cup tournaments compared to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's journey to the League Cup last eight in his first complete campaign in charge. Under Hodgson, the club had already been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup when Glasner assumed control at Selhurst Park. In contrast, Glasner selected his best lineup for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That previous quarter-final match ended in a three-two loss at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a rather debated 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 versus the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week owing to European commitments.

A Cost of Achievement and European Fatigue

Glasner has, in a sense, been a victim of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their maiden major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final subsequently ushered in the rigors of European football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on several weary players, many of whom have barely had a break all term.

The manager fielded an entirely different side, featuring four teenagers, in their last Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "no option" but to choose the bulk of his preferred side, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces versus Leeds. "Have to. Yes, must," he stated.

The Gunners' Perspective and Team Dilemmas

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

Arteta had made a number of changes for that League Cup tie but was forced to bring on his "big-hitters" following the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a decisive goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a situation that will be the case again on Tuesday.

Arsenal are on an eight-match unbeaten run versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in last season's League Cup meeting and two in a later league win before sustaining a long-term knee injury, looks set to begin for the first since that setback. Arteta disclosed 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 fixture list. "In my view this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be similar. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be prepared."

With key players returning from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a formidable challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the festive schedule intensifies.