In a new column Joe Townsend gives his verdict of who is best to pick for Last Man Standing, doubling up with some extra acca advice as both 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.
A lot of groups may not start until next weekend but with the EFL kicking off a week earlier here we go...
Who should I pick in Last Man Standing this week?
There aren't many odds-on favourites for EFL opening weekend, bringing with it an increased level of jeopardy.
On a weekend of limited choice I would be willing to look past recent history, which suggests relegated Premier League teams take a while to adjust, and back WOLVES to beat Blackburn in Friday's Championship curtain raiser.
Cesar Peixoto began his reign with a 3-0 win over Port Vale in the Carabao Cup that was sewn up by the 43rd minute so the Old Gold may have already begun to shake off the losing habit, helped by having a lot of new faces bedded in from early in pre-season.
Blackburn and new manager Tony Mowbray look set for a difficult campaign after scrapping their way to safety last term.
I went for Wolves to win the title and Rovers to finish bottom in my Championship 24-1 predictions so it would be quite a cop out to not include this.
HUDDERSFIELD have become a difficult team to trust having undergone so much upheaval in the past few seasons, but they have tended to start well and once again have done good summer business.
The Terriers won four of their opening five League One matches in each of the past two seasons before things tailed off and host a Wimbledon team they thrashed 4-0 away from home on the final day last term under interim boss Martin Drury, who is now in permanent charge.
The Dons are expected to again be in a relegation battle this campaign after scraping to safety. They needed a stoppage-time equaliser at home to League Two strugglers Newport in the Carabao Cup on Saturday before beating them on penalties.
In contrast to their West Yorkshire rivals BRADFORD have been about as reliable as they come in recent years.
Graham Alexander's men followed up a third-placed finish in League Two by finishing fourth in League One. Across those seasons their home record reads W32 D9 L5.
Peterborough just about avoided the drop last term and there have been few signs they have a squad capable of doing any better this time around.
Teams to hold on to
Norwich are a side many will select but there will be better days to back them.
West Brom went 10 unbeaten under interim - and now permanent - boss James Morrison to secure survival last season before losing on the final day and were the biggest underperformers in the Championship according to underlying data last term, finishing 21st but sitting seventh in the performance-based xG table.
Albion thrashed Rotherham 4-1 in the Carabao Cup last weekend, too.
Middlesbrough are another I would avoid this weekend.
Newly-promoted Championship clubs have been very competitive on opening weekend in recent years, and there is plenty of time to potentially get against Lincoln if they turn out to be out of their depth under new co-head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw.
But the Imps - who romped to the League One title - are 30 games unbeaten, a run they extended by winning 2-1 at Derby in the Carabao Cup.
Backing a team who have not lost in 2026 would be bold, especially when we can use Boro as a banker later in the campaign.
Grimsby should compete towards the top end of League Two again this term after losing in the play-off semi-finals in May, but there will be better days to back them than against an Exeter side who were only narrowly relegated.
The Grecians battled well away to Plymouth - one of the League One promotion favourites - in the cup on Monday before a late red card ultimately proved costly as Argyle scored twice in stoppage time to win 2-0.
At the time of writing Exeter still have Jayden Wareham too, the third top scorer in League One last season with 19 goals (22 in all competitions).
Teams to swerve
No League Two team drew more than Chesterfield and Fleetwood (both 16) last season, which would almost already be enough for this to be a match to avoid had Fleetwood not won a fine-margin game 1-0 in the Carabao Cup last weekend.
And finally we come to Leicester.
One of the shortest-priced title favourites in League One history, the Foxes start their third-tier campaign away to newly-promoted Notts County.
Russell Martin's football often takes time to bed in, while teams coming up from the bottom tier have a remarkably strong record in the opening weeks of the season.
The Foxes should be a banker further down the line, but there are far too many question marks this weekend.
Odds correct 12:30 BST (14/8/26)
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