Arsenal face Crystal Palace in an EFL silverware quest | OneFootball

Arsenal are set to face Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night in a match that will take either side a step closer to winning silverware this season.

The victors will face Chelsea in the semi-final after the draw was completed last week. The other three quarter-finals have already taken place, with the aforementioned Chelsea as well as Manchester City and Newcastle booking their place in the semi-final.

Crystal Palace won their first-ever major trophy last season when they beat Pep Guardiola’s City side in the FA Cup final and followed up that triumph by beating the same club in the final of the Community Shield. This is an opportunity for them to win their first major trophy of the year and build from last season.

The case is much different for Arsenal who are without a major trophy in the last five years, when they beat Chelsea in the 2020 FA Cup final. Arteta was at the helm that day, but he will have hoped to have won more with the club since he took over after three second-placed Premier League finishes in a row.

Palace’s packed schedule

The match against Arsenal becomes Palace’s third match in six days because of their participation in the UEFA Conference League.

The south London side have not won any of the first two matches of the fast-paced run-in. A fully changed, inexperienced Palace side drew 2-2 against KuPS in Europe before a more experienced 11 were beaten 4-1 by Leeds United on Saturday night.

Despite the lack of rest between games, Oliver Glasner has not blamed fatigue for their poor run of results.

“No – fatigue is no excuse,” he said. “I think we had the wrong mindset. Maybe I spoke too much about tactics before the game against the 3-5-2 and not enough about the basics, because we lost every second ball. It was the basics. They were much better than we were. You have to do the basics first, then you can talk about tactics.”

“Everybody should be disappointed and think what they can do better and I always start with myself. I will find the right answer and let the players before the next match against Arsenal.”

Positive news for Arsenal

Arsenal also played on Saturday night beating Everton 1-0 at Hill-Dickinson Stadium so they too will be affected by the swift turnaround between fixtures.

Much like Palace, Arsenal are also competing in Europe this season and have endured a very intense schedule so far. Alongside this, Arsenal have also suffered a plethora of injuries with star players such as Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes and many more missing large parts of the season so far.

One player that has been out for a while is Gabriel Jesus who, before Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge, had not played a single minute for Arsenal for 11 months because of a cruciate ligament tear.

Since coming back he has played three times off the bench, and Arteta has revealed in the lead up to this match that he is ready to start against Palace.

“Yes, he is [ready to start against Palace],” Arteta said. “You can see now, not only in games but every day in training, how much he wants it. He’s going to deserve a chance soon.”