Oliver Glasner Aims to Motivate Jaded Palace as Payback Versus The Gunners Beckons.

You could forgive Oliver Glasner for wishing to spend a quiet few days with his loved ones in Austria ahead of Christmas, rather than gearing up for Crystal Palace's twenty-ninth match of the campaign—a League Cup last-eight clash against Arsenal. Yet, the idea that Palace could focus on other tournaments was firmly dismissed by their head coach.

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

There is a clear difference in Glasner's philosophy to cup tournaments relative to his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. This first was evident during Palace's run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in his debut complete campaign in command. Under Hodgson, the team had previously been knocked out from each of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by the time Glasner took over at Selhurst Park. Conversely, Glasner fielded his best side for victories over Norwich, QPR, and Aston Villa, setting up a showdown with Arsenal.

That prior quarter-final match ended in a 3-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, following a somewhat controversial hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus, even though Palace having led at the interval. Almost exactly twelve months later, Glasner now faces the task to devise a plan for revenge against the current Premier League leaders in a fixture that was moved to this week because of European commitments.

The Price of Success and Continental Exhaustion

Glasner has, in a way, been a casualty of his own success. Leading Palace to their first major trophy with a win in the FA Cup final has ushered in the challenges of European football for the first time. These pressures are catching up with some weary players, many of whom have hardly had a rest all season.

The coach selected an completely changed lineup, including four youngsters, in their final Conference League fixture. However, ahead of the Arsenal game, he conceded he will have "little choice" but to select the bulk of his first-choice team, which looked decidedly lethargic as they uncharacteristically conceded four goals from set-pieces against Leeds. "Have to. Yes, have to," he stated.

The Gunners' Viewpoint and Selection Considerations

For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the situation are distinct. The manager must balance his desire to win a second major trophy with extreme pragmatism. The previous season, a muscle injury to Bukayo Saka suffered in a league game against Palace just days after their Carabao Cup fightback significantly harmed their title hopes.

Arteta had implemented a number of changes for that cup match but was forced to bring on his "key players" following the break. Saka came off the bench to assist Jesus for a crucial goal in a passage of play that left Glasner "furious" over a potential offside, with no VAR in operation—a situation that will repeat again on Tuesday.

Arsenal have an eight-match winning streak versus Palace, including seven victories. Gabriel Jesus, who netted a hat-trick in the previous campaign's League Cup encounter and two in a later league win before suffering a serious knee injury, looks set to begin for the first time since that injury. Arteta disclosed the forward wrote a "touching" letter to his teammates about what football means to him.

"We're accustomed to it," commented Arteta on the busy schedule. "I think this week was the only complete week we had to prepare. The rest until February at least is will be like this. We have a wonderful chance to go into the semi-final of a competition so we will be prepared."

Amid important players coming back from injury and a desire to advance, Arsenal pose a daunting test for a Crystal Palace side urgently in need of a spark as the holiday schedule intensifies.