Gonzalo Higuain once again a doubt for Juventus’ trip to Genoa on Sunday

If you were thinking that Gonzalo Higuain’s absence from Juventus’ Champions League game on Tuesday was a one-time thing, you might have to think again.

Along with fellow Tuesday absentee Medhi Benatia, Higuain is a doubt to be available for Juventus’ trip to face Genoa at the Luigi Ferraris on Sunday afternoon after he reportedly didn’t practice with the rest of the team during a rainy training session at Vinovo Thursday afternoon. Higuain, who missed Juve’s 3-1 win over Sevilla on Tuesday night, is still trying to recover from a knock he picked up late in the Serie A champions’ victory over Pescara last weekend.

So, in case you thought that Higuain could return and give your Serie A fantasy a boost this weekend, you probably should go in a different direction just to be safe.

Higuain’s potential absence has caused most of the Italian media outlets to think that Juventus manager Max Allegri will go with the same 4-3-3 formation he utilized in Tuesday’s win over Seviilla, with Mario Mandzukic being flanked by Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro on either wing. Seeing as the injuries to Higuain, Marko Pjaca and Paulo Dybala — who’s reportedly close to being available for selection again — will keep Juventus will most likely keep Juventus with only one senior team striker for the time being, this is probably the best option Allegri has to him.

That is unless Mad Max suddenly lets Moise Kean loose and inserts the 16-year-old starlet into the starting lineup, but that doesn’t seem all too likely at that point. That’s especially true when you look at the schedule and notice that Juventus have had four days of rest between the Sevilla and Genoa fixtures and a weeks worth of rest until their game against Atalanta during the first weekend of December.