One might excuse Oliver Glasner for preferring to enjoy a restful few days with his family in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's 29th match of the campaign—a League Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace could prioritize other competitions was quickly rejected by their head coach.
"No, I don't think so," stated Glasner following his team's side's four-one loss to Leeds. "If somebody tells me that we lose on purpose, the next day I'm no longer the manager any more."
There is a stark difference in Glasner's strategy to cup tournaments versus his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This initially was evident during Palace's run to the League 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 by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his strongest team for wins over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a meeting with Arsenal.
That previous last-eight match concluded in a three-two defeat at the Emirates Stadium, due to a rather debated hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, despite Palace having been ahead at half-time. Now, Glasner must figure out a strategy for payback versus the present Premier League leaders in a match that was rescheduled to this week owing to European obligations.
Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own achievements. Guiding Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of continental football for the very first time. These pressures are taking a toll on some exhausted players, many of whom have hardly had a break all season.
The manager fielded an entirely changed lineup, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. Yet, ahead of the Arsenal clash, he admitted he will have "little choice" but to choose the bulk of his first-choice side, which looked decidedly jaded as they unusually let in four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he affirmed.
On Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the circumstances are different. The manager must juggle his ambition to win a second major trophy with considerable pragmatism. Last year, a hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup comeback greatly harmed their title hopes.
Arteta had made several changes for that League Cup tie but was compelled to bring on his "key players" after the break. Saka came off the bench to set up Jesus for a crucial goal in a move that left Glasner "furious" over a possible offside, with no VAR available—a scenario that will repeat again on Tuesday.
Arsenal are on an eight-game unbeaten streak against Palace, featuring seven wins. Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the previous campaign'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 accustomed to it," said Arteta on the congested fixture list. "In my view this week was the sole complete week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is going to be similar. We have a wonderful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be ready."
Amid important players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal present a daunting challenge for a Palace side urgently in need of rejuvenation as the holiday period ramps up.
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