In this case Man City is the party who benefits because Kevin de Bruyne return coincides with Mo Salah long absence. And for the party that is slightly disadvantaged, Liverpool needs to be able to overcome Mo Salah absence in any way. In the last match Nunez was Liverpool substitute and savior to maintain the point difference from Man City. But because 1 month is quite a long time it means that there are 3 to 4 matches that have to be played without Mo Salah and this is clearly not something that is easy for Liverpool to go through. The 5 point difference is not the problem but Liverpool consistency is at stake without a capable striker. I don't doubt Liverpool players but Mo Salah presence is vital in every victory they achieve.
indeed a loss for Liverpool. but it seems like Klopp doesn't want to make it a burden for the team to face several opponents. and several matches seem to have been successfully passed. they won 0-2 from Arsenal. they won 2-1 from Fulham. and finally won 0-4 against Bournemouth.
Klopp still has several player options on the front line with a combination of Gakpo, Nunez, Jota, Luis Diaz, and Elliot. Even though Salah is very important for the team, when he can't play then Klopp has to maximize the existing players. They cannot give up City's pursuit, which still has 1 match.
It's true that I also saw that Jurgen Klopp was able to overcome the absence of M. Salah, who had to be absent because he was playing for the Egyptian national team and also because M. Salah was also absent from his national team due to a minor injury.
Klopp has proven that he can overcome the absence of M. Salah by still being able to give Liverpool victory in these 3 matches, where Liverpool are still productive in scoring goals. This is also the answer that Liverpool's front line is still quite sharp. M. Salah's figure is indeed important, but Liverpool does have other strikers who can be relied on when M. Salah is absent. So I feel that Liverpool will continue their winning trend even without M. Salah. The same thing happened at Man City because they have played several matches without Haaland. But they still look strong. And yes, this is the same as Liverpool, which still looks strong even without M. Salah.
You are right, because I think when M. Sallah moved to Egypt for the Afcon, I thought he would affect them in there matches, but Klopp proved without him they can still win the premier league title, Liverpool are performing great and I think they will do anything possible to get the trophy this season, Manchester City are just waiting for Liverpool to mistakenly drop point and lead the league table, because I don't think Manchester City get any players that move to Afcon that will make them worry. Guadiola's players are back, and Klopp will do his utmost to win matches because I believe Manchester City will not lose any points this time because the league is coming to as end and they will do possible to win all there matches.
Haaland is not Manchester City's problems. Even without Haaland, Manchester City wins matches but when Rodri is absent and de Bruyne is absent, Manchester City loses matches and draws, but now that de Bruyne is back, you will notice that Manchester City cannot perform well without de Bruyne and Rodri, and without de Bruyne I do not believe Haaland can score many goals and become the highest goal scorer. When Manchester City plays Newcastle and they are leading Manchester City by one goal, Guadiola just replaces De Bruyne and they make a comeback, you will notice that without De Bruyne, Manchester City cannot generate many wins in the team.