In week four of a new column Joe Townsend gives his verdict of who is best to pick for Last Man Standing, doubling up as acca tips and swerves.
What Is Last Man Standing?
For the uninitiated it makes sense to start with describing what this game, and therefore this article, actually is.
For those already in WhatsApp groups where Last Man Standing chat dominates, sorry for wasting your time.
The concept is a simple one: pick one team to win each week and keep going until everyone else is knocked out.
Usually there's a buy-in in the same way a sweepstake works, so the bigger the group the bigger the payout.
Each week, you choose a team you think will win. If they win, you’re through. Lose or draw and you’re out.
You can only pick each team once, which is where the tactics come in.
Do you keep backing the strongest clubs every week until you run out and hope for the best? Look a week or two ahead and save a strong team for when there's very little on offer?
It seems easy to start with but choices soon dry up, and you're bound to have shock results in there too. Before you know it a few (or even just one) of your mates is rooting for everyone's teams to lose so they can buy back in for a second game.
How does Last Man Standing work?
- Decide the leagues included
- Set a deadline
- Each pick a team to win
- Winners survive
- No repeat selections
- Last man standing wins
Basically, don't get knocked out.
Each week I'll run through the obvious picks and make a case for or against.
As the season goes on, and people are more likely to have used up the obvious teams, I'll try and dig out a few more obscure options but the column itself won't change hugely to allow for new Last Man games.
For the purposes of this column we'll stick to matches in the Premier League and EFL until the FA Cup third round.
Teams to swerve
I've flipped things round this week after last weekend, at the third time of asking, the favourites finally started to deliver for punters.
Thirteen of the 18 odds-on teams discussed won, a 72% hit-rate. Furthermore, only one lost as Salford were beaten at Shrewsbury.
It meant that the vast majority of last week's swerves ultimately justified their price, so I'm breaking the sections down a little more this time around.
Having repeatedly been flagged as avoids LIVERPOOL and WEST HAM remain in that category and are joined by LUTON. All are facing similar problems in that defensively they are wide open and being picked apart. The Hammers' 1.75 goals conceded per game looks impressive compared to the Reds' (2.0) and Hatters' (2.5), with it little wonder they have won only three of their 10 league games between them.
Luton did bounce back from a 5-2 thrashing at Mansfield by beating Stockport in midweek and West Ham won 4-2 against Burnley, but it's too early to trust them.
Teams to hold on to
For MILLWALL it really has been a week. Having started last Saturday with a 100% record following two wins and two clean sheets they were thrashed 5-1 at Southampton. Star man Femi Azeez was sold to Brighton for £15m on deadline day and they then lost 3-0 to Wrexham 24 hours later. I just think there will be better weeks to back them.
LEICESTER delivered a much-needed first league win for Russell Martin on Tuesday as they beat Plymouth 2-0. It was a second clean sheet on the spin but we still need to see more, and allow more time for things to settle down after a hectic transfer window.
BRENTFORD nearly made the list as they have been very impressive in league and cup, showing no signs of a drop-off in Keith Andrews' second season at the helm. I'm just keen not to read too much into their 3-0 win over a hapless Tottenham. Sunderland dug out a 1-0 win over Fulham last weekend too, so the Bees may be better to keep in your back pocket.
Who should I pick in Last Man Standing this week?
- MANCHESTER CITY 2/11 vs Coventry
- BRISTOL ROVERS 7/10 vs Rotherham
- Lincoln vs SOUTHAMPTON 4/5
- HUDDERSFIELD 4/6 vs Notts County
MANCHESTER CITY are the standout pick at home to newly-promoted Coventry, whose home defeat by Hull left them pointless and goalless after two games. City were imperious in thrashing Crystal Palace at Selhurst and finished the transfer window with a flourish to leave them in an incredibly strong position.
BRISTOL ROVERS have scored 11 goals in four matches, at least twice in every game and are averaging just shy of 3.0 xG per match. They shrugged off an opening day defeat at York to win their next three and have now won 14 of their last 18. Rotherham have battled gamely (W1 D2 L1) but this will be a step up.
Poor opening 45 minutes of the season aside SOUTHAMPTON have looked close to the same side that spi... sorry stormed its way up the Championship table in the second half of last term. They should have far too much for Lincoln.
HUDDERSFIELD are a real maybe, some of it rational some possibly not. They have been the standout side in League One but were lucky to escape with three points at Cambridge last weekend. I also can't quite shake the nagging doubt that we've been here before after Town won four of their opening five league games in each of the last two campaigns before tailing off. Notts County remain unbeaten since promotion, too, despite a tough schedule.
Odds correct at 11:35 BST (03/09/26)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Home of This Week's Acca
- Football and other sports tips
- Download the Sporting Life app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
