Avoid team that has upset favourites (8)
I believe the answer is:
sidestep
'avoid' is the definition.
(sidestepping is a kind of avoiding)
'team that has upset favourites' is the wordplay.
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'that has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'upset' is a reversal indicator.
'favourites' becomes 'pets' ('pet' can be a synonym of 'favourite').
'pets' in reverse letter order is 'step'.
'side'+'step'='SIDESTEP'
(Other definitions for sidestep that I've seen before include "To avoid" , "Find a way round" , "Shift to right or left" , "Dodge (an issue?)" , "Dodge - circumvent" .)