Aston Villa face a big test of their top-six aspirations on Saturday, as they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Villa Park for this weekend’s first English Premier League fixture.
Unai Emery’s side have made an indifferent start to the new campaign, and crashed out of the Carabao Cup in midweek, suffering a 2-1 defeat to struggling Everton.
Brighton endured a similar fate on Wednesday, losing 1-0 away to Chelsea, but with the Seagulls flying high in third in the EPL, boss Roberto De Zerbi may welcome being able to now focus on their league campaign with one less distraction.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch all of the action live, wherever you are in the world.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has urged his players to quickly refocus following their Carabao Cup exit in midweek.
Aston Villa vs. Brighton: When and where?
Aston Villa host Brighton at Villa Park in Birmingham, on Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. BST (7:30 a.m. ET, 4:30 p.m PT).
How to watch the Aston Villa vs. Brighton game online from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch the game — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, non-blackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
Livestream Aston Villa vs. Brighton in the US
Saturday’s Villa-Brighton match is on USA Network, which you can access as part of your cable package or at the NBC Sports website with a valid login, and can be streamed via Sling TV and other more expensive streaming TV services.
Sling TV’s Blue plan includes USA Network making it a great option for those wanting to watch Premier League action. It’s $35 per month and includes over 40 channels, including other sports channels like ESPN and FS1.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Brighton game in the UK
Premier League rights in the UK are split between Sky Sports, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports (previously known as BT Sport). The Villa-Brighton game is exclusive to TNT Sports — showing on its TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 1 HD and TNT Sport Ultimate channels.
Having been renamed from BT Sports, TNT Sports will be offering a sizable 52 matches exclusively live this season to viewers in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in exactly the same way as its predecessor, including via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £30 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Brighton game in Canada
If you want to stream Aston Villa vs. Brighton live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to FuboTV Canada. The service has exclusive rights for this Premier League season.
Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the Premier League this season with exclusive streaming rights to every game. It costs CA$25 per month, though you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Brighton game in Australia
Football fans Down Under can watch this EPL fixture on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League game live in Australia this season.
With exclusive rights to screen every EPL match live this season, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans.
If you’re already an Optus network customer you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 per month. If you’re not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25.
Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN
- With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming EPL matches may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
- All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
