Two unbeaten teams go head to head at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's Man City return to European action on Wednesday as they take on Sparta Prague in this UEFA Champions League match at the Etihad Stadium.
City come into this match on 4 points after playing out a goalless draw at home with Inter Milan in Gameweek 1, followed by an emphatic 4-0 away win against Slovan Bratislava last time out. The hosts made hard work of a last-gasp 2-1 away win in the English Premier League against Wolves at the weekend, and will be without key men Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker for today's fixture.
Currently level on points with City, Sparta have made an encouraging start to what is their first appearance in this competition in almost two decades. The Czech champions earned a creditable 1-1 draw away at Stuttgart last time out.
Where to Watch Man City vs Sparta Prague
Manchester City take on Sparta Prague on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Etihad Stadium, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. BST local time in the UK, making it a 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT kickoff in the US and Canada, and a 6 a.m. AEDT start in Australia on Thursday morning.
Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the match as it happens, wherever you are in the world.
How to Watch in the US
Paramount Plus has two main subscription plans in the US: Essential for $8 per month and Premium for $13 a month. Both offer coverage of the Champions League.
The cheaper Essential option has ads for on-demand streaming and lacks live CBS feeds as well as the ability to download shows to watch offline later. Newcomers to the service can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, while students may qualify for a 25% discount.
How to Watch in the UK
Along with the shakeup of the Champions League format, the new season brings with it some changes to how to watch UCL games in the UK.
TNT Sports will continue to broadcast the majority of Champions League games, but Amazon Prime Video now has first pick for games on a Tuesday, with one per match week being shown exclusively live on the platform.
This match is set to be shown live on TNT Sports 2.
TNT Sports is offering the lions' share of Champions League matches exclusively live this season to viewers in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in a number of ways, including via Sky Q as a TV package, or direct streaming from its range of mobile and smart TV apps. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus' library of documentary content.
How to Watch in Canada
If you want to stream UCL games live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League this season.
A DAZN subscription currently costs CA$30 a month or CA$200 a year and will also give you access to Europa League and EFL Championship soccer, Six Nations rugby and WTA tennis.
As well as dedicated apps for iOS and Android, there's a wide range of support for set-top boxes and smart TVs.
How to Watch in Australia
Football fans Down Under can watch UCL matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show the Champions League live in Australia this season.
Stan Sport will set you back AU$10 a month (on top of a AU$10 Stan subscription), but the streaming service is currently offering a seven-day free trial.
A subscription will also give you access to Europa League and Europa Conference League action, as well as international rugby and Formula E.
Using a VPN to Watch Man City vs Sparta Prague
If you find yourself unable to view UCL matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- 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. 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.
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, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Man City vs Sparta Prague Team News
Stefan Ortega Moreno, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden also come into the side for our third game of this competition after a draw with Inter and win at Slovan Bratislava.
Ederson, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol drop to the bench from the 2-1 win at Molineux while Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish are not fully fit.
Man City Starting XI
Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Gundogan, Bernardo (C), Nunes, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
Man City Subs
Ederson, Carson, Dias, Kovacic, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, McAtee
Sparta Prague Starting XI
Vindahl, Kairinen, Olatunji, Birmancevic, Preciado, Laci, Haraslin, Sorensen, Panak (C), Rynes, Vitik
Sparta Prague Subs
Vorel, Surovcik, Suchomel, Solbakken, Ross, Pavelka, Albion Rrahmani, Danek, Sadilek, Pesek, Wiesner, Krasniqi
Man City vs Sparta Prague Preview
The statistics suggest that Sparta will be the latest side to play with transitions, getting the ball to the other end of the pitch faster than most.
No team has had fewer passes per sequence (1.95) or 10+ open play passing sequences (two) in this season’s Champions League, with the Czech side second for direct speed (2.2m/s), which measures how quickly the ball is progressed upfield in open play.
City are likely to have a back four of Rico Lewis, Akanji, Ake and John Stones to counter any breaks.
Pep Guardiola also praised Nunes for his determination against Wolves and he will start in midfield with Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, wearing the armband tonight.
Savinho and Foden can play on either side of Erling Haaland, who will lead the line.
Gundogan Reaches Champions League Milestone
Ilkay Gundogan will make his 100th appearance in the Champions League tonight becoming just the 48th player to bring up the century. The majority have been with City, 69 go into this evening, with the rest split between Borussia Dortmund and last season at Barcelona.
It will be a huge achievement with Fernandinho the only other City player to pass 100 appearances with the majority of them coming in the sky blue of City. Among those 99 games so far, three have been finals with the last of them unforgettably in 2023, when he lifted the trophy following our win over Chelsea in Istanbul.
His desire to win another remains as he keeps pushing City forward.
Man City's Creative Trio
He’s one of just five players at least five line-breaking passes that have led to a shot in the first two Champions League matches. Incidentally, three of the five are City players with Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis joining him as creators in chief.
Unfamiliar Foes
Tonight will be our first ever clash with Sparta Prague but we faced Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the group stage of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League winning 3-1 and 4-2 at the Etihad.
It is perhaps a surprise that we have never met before, given the Czech champions have spent 39 seasons competing in Europe, including 25 seasons in the Champions League or European Cup. Their campaign began in Dublin in July when they beat Shamrock Rovers before successfully navigating another two qualifying rounds with wins over Romanian side FCSB and Swedish club Malmo.
And Sparta’s strong European form has continued with a 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg on matchday one followed by a 1-1 draw away to Stuttgart.
With the new 36-team format, like City, a strong start puts them with a strong challenge for the top-eight or nine to 24 positions that will secure a two-legged knockout tie as they look to reach the last-16 for the first time since 2004.
