De Bruyne and Aguero return to City bench, Sterling left out of starting XI

Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero have returned from injury to take their place on the bench for Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Everton, but there is no place for Raheem Sterling in the starting XI.

De Bruyne has had a season blighted by knee problems so far and the latest issue has kept him out since the end of October.

Aguero, meanwhile, has been sidelined by a groin injury, missing City’s last four matches in all competitions.

Sterling has had a week in the spotlight since he was the target of alleged racist abuse during last weekend’s league defeat at Chelsea. 

The incident led to the suspension of four Chelsea fans and an investigation by the club and the Metropolitan Police, while Sterling subsequently questioned the portrayal of black players in the British press.

Sterling played the full 90 minutes as City beat Hoffenheim 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday but will be among the substitutes for the visit of Everton.

John Stones, Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko also drop out of the team that started in Europe, with Kyle Walker, Fabian Delph, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez all coming in.

Our line-up ahead of a big afternoon of Premier League action!

CITY XI | Ederson, Walker, Gündogan, Laporte, Delph, Sané, Silva, Fernandinho (C), Mahrez, Otamendi, Jesus

SUBS | Muric, Stones, Sterling, Agüero, De Bruyne, Zinchenko, Foden@HaysWorldwide #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/Ihq2RZSj3W

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 15, 2018