Manchester City resume their defense of the English Premier League title on Wednesday with a potentially tricky test against top-four chasing Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.
City were left frustrated after a goalless draw against rivals Arsenal at the weekend, and come into this match trailing league leaders Liverpool by 3 points.
With fifth-placed Spurs having dropped points in their London derby with West Ham yesterday, Villa could extend their hold on fourth spot with a big win here. While that may seem like a tall order against a City side in the hunt for the title, Villa beat City 1-0 in the reverse fixture back in December and could do a first league double against them since 1963.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game live, wherever you are in the world.
Kevin de Bruyne is just short of reaching 100 goals for Manchester City across all competitions.
Manchester City vs. Aston Villa: When and where?
Manchester City host Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, April 3. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. BST local time, which is 3:15 p.m. ET or 12:15 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 6:15 a.m. AEDT in Australia on Thursday morning.
How to watch the Manchester City vs. Aston Villa 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.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 35% — the equivalent of $8.32 a month — if you get an annual subscription.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Livestream Man City vs. Aston Villa in the US
Wednesday’s Manchester City-Aston Villa 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 Man City vs. Aston Villa 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 Manchester City vs. Aston Villa game is exclusive to TNT Sports — showing on its TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 1 HD channels as well as in 4K on the TNT Sports Ultimate channel.
TNT Sports is 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 BT Sport, 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 Man City vs. Aston Villa game in Canada
If you want to stream Man City vs. Aston Villa live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo. The service has exclusive rights for this Premier League season.
Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the EPL 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 Man City vs. Aston Villa 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.
