Maurizio Sarri opted to start without a recognised striker against Liverpool at Anfield.
The Italian boss deployed Willian, Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi as his front three.
And while the Blues battled hard against the Reds in a goalless first half, they were pretty toothless up front.
And after falling 2-0 down thanks to two goals in three second half minutes, Sarri sent on Higuain, moving Hazard back into his more comfortable position.
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Chelsea immediately looked more fluid and more dangerous, although they could not turn the game around, and went down to a 2-0 defeat.
The match was live on Sky Sports, and Graeme Souness was analysing, suggesting Sarri should have started with a targetman, even naming two former Blues stars who would have had an impact on the contest.
He said: "I’ve said all year I don’t think Chelsea are far away. You imagine [Didier] Drogba in that team today, or [Diego] Costa, it’s a very different Chelsea. They have that focal point who will take the centre-backs on physically.
"When Higuain came on, and I’ve been a fan of him throughout his career, but he is 31 now and he was playing off the two centre-backs. I thought there was a lot to be admired about Chelsea. They turned up.
"Without the obvious which is the hardest thing to get in football - the man who puts it in the net, who you can bounce the ball off, who can join in and that’s why you have to be the big box.
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"The problem for Chelsea going forward is that the owner seems disinterested. He’ll feel he’s been let down by our government. He appears to no longer want to invest the big bucks. That’s the problem for Chelsea going forward, but there’s a lot to like about Chelsea.
"You’ve got to stick with [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek. I don’t think Hudson-Odoi is ready. I don’t think they’re that far away. At the start of the season [Alvaro] Morata wasn’t good enough. They’ve got Higuain, will he be the answer? It depends how much the owner wants to invest, but there’s not a lot wrong with Chelsea for me."
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