After being controversially held to a draw by Spurs at the weekend, Man City faces another tricky fixture as they take on top-four-chasing Aston Villa.
Sunday’s six-goal thriller at the Etihad means Manchester City have now gone three consecutive league matches without a win — the first time Pep Guardiola’s side have experienced such a run in over six years.
They face a Villa side that was also left frustrated at the weekend after being held to a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. Villa remain in the top four following that result, but with their superb home form this term, they’ll be confident of pulling off a statement win against a City side that has been uncharacteristically conceding goals.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services for watching all of the action live wherever you are in the world.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery will be hoping his side can maintain an unbeaten run that currently stretches to 12 games.
Aston Villa vs. Manchester City: When and where?
Aston Villa host Manchester City at Villa Park on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. GMT local time. That’s 3:15 p.m. ET or 12:15 a.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 7:15 a.m. AEDT early on Thursday morning in Australia.
How to watch the Aston Villa vs. Man City 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; 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 the Aston Villa vs. Man City game in the US
Sunday’s Aston Villa-Manchester City match is streaming on Peacock. You’ll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live.
NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, offers access to all the matches of this season’s Premier League that aren’t shown on cable. You’ll need to have a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to stream games live, which costs $6 a month or $60 per year.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Manchester City 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). Aston Villa vs. Man City is part of a full program of Premier League games being shown exclusively live on Amazon Prime this week.
An Amazon Prime membership includes Amazon’s wide-ranging TV and movie streaming service as well as ad-free music streaming, Prime Gaming, exclusive deals and its signature free delivery service. Prime costs £9 a month or £95 for the year in the UK.
The good news for anyone who hasn’t had an active Amazon account for 12 months or more is that you can stream Premier League games this week without paying a penny by taking advantage of Amazon Prime’s 30-day free trial.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Man City game in Canada
If you want to stream this match live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo 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, although you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually.
Livestream the Aston Villa vs. Man City game in Australia
Football fans Down Under can watch this EPL fixture on the 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.
