Community Team Reveal Gameweek 8 – FPL Shake n Bake

Each Gameweek brings an FPL community team reveal. As a result, that person gives insight into their transfers, captaincy and future plans.

Ahead of Gameweek 8, it’s the turn of FPL Shake n Bake (Brett) to tell us what he is doing to his team.

Hi Brett and thanks for the team reveal. So how did Gameweek 8 go?

I had a decent rank climb to 145k over Gameweek 6. All week, I was convinced that I was going to take a four-point hit to remove Ivan Toney but luckily I changed my mind and kept him for his hat-trick.

I ended on 57 points as, despite Toney, the only other returns came from Kieran Trippier and Erling Haaland.

What does your defence look like?

At the start, I avoided the temptation to go big-at-the-back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold being my only premium – more on him later. Trippier has been a star for me, Gabriel has been solid and I recently switched between Tottenham full-backs Ivan Perisic and Emerson Royal based on what I perceived to be security in minutes but that’s a move I now regret.

Last week, to avoid burning a transfer, I replaced budget enabler Nathan Patterson with Wesley Fofana. A £4.4m Chelsea defender is too good to turn down and hopefully he can cover Reece James’ defensive points, a player I’m scared of not owning.

Meanwhile, what about your midfield and attack?

In midfield, I went with Salah at the start and he remains in place for now. By going with an £8m midfielder, I planned to rotate that slot to attack the fixtures but I have only changed once from Mason Mount to Phil Foden.

Alongside those, I have Gabriel Martinelli – a bargain – and permanent bench warmers in Andreas Pereira and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Up front, I started the season with three playing forwards and feel that I was slightly ahead of the curve in that respect, as most people are only now looking to get there. Gabriel Jesus began with Ivan Toney and Erling Haaland.

So what are your transfer plans for Gameweek 8 and beyond?

I’m looking at a mini-wildcard, utilising my two free transfers and two more for a points hit. I think this is a potential week to attack the fixtures, as people will be taking hits to get a full team out.

Ironically, I could do this without a single transfer but I’m looking at taking a calculated gamble. I’ve really wanted Harry Kane alongside Haaland and there’s no better fixture for him than Leicester. His record against them is phenomenal and they look completely out of sorts this season, so he’s coming in for Gabriel Jesus.

To make the funds available for this, I’m looking at moving the Liverpool boys out. Trent hasn’t impressed me this season and, combined with the blank fixture and a few tough upcoming opponents, I feel he and Salah are expendable. In their place comes Sven Botman for a Newcastle defensive double-up, plus Kevin De Bruyne.

However, due to having three Man City players, I need to move on Foden with a heavy heart and in comes Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal man has bagged two assists and a goal during his last three fixtures. I toyed with activating my wildcard instead but feel like this points hit is the way to go

Therefore I can save my wildcard to navigate through Blank Gameweek 12 or react to major developments over the upcoming international break.