FPL GW8 Wildcard Team – Tips, Players to Target and Best Drafts

With a fixture swing for many teams, GW8 has emerged as a popular Gameweek to wildcard amongst FPL managers. In this blog, we look at the Pros and cons of the FPL GW8 Wildcard, the Ideal FPL GW8 Wildcard Team, Drafts, and the Players to Target in your Gameweek 8 Wildcard team.

Link to all our FPL GW8 blogs including scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, best forwards, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW8 Wildcard Guide

Pros & Cons of Wildcarding in FPL GW8:

Pros of GW8 Wildcard:

• Remove underperforming players like Watkins, Rogers, Forest defenders, etc
• Jump on Arsenal assets who have been performing well & have got good fixtures.
• Get in the must-own picks like Haaland, Semenyo, Senesi, Arsenal defense- If you don’t already have them.
• Get Chelsea assets early, with their fixtures improving starting from GW8
• Load your team with DEFCON beasts like Senesi, Richards & Andersen
• Avoid team value dropping early in the season
• Bank free transfers for later use

Cons of GW8 Wildcard:

• GW13 might offer a better window to Wildcard(Team dependent) as there is a fixture swing for many teams.
• GW13 is a mega fixture swing for Liverpool, Man City & Newcastle. Liverpool face West Ham (A), Sunderland (H), and Leeds (A). City play Leeds (H), Fulham (A), and Sunderland (H). Newcastle take on Everton (A), Spurs (H), and Burnley (H).
• Managers who have a few transfers saved up can still get Haaland for Salah in 2-3 transfers and save the wildcard for later.

Players to Target on FPL GW8 Wildcard:

Goalkeepers: Raya, Donnarumma, Pope, Dubravka

Defenders: Gabriel, Rimber, Gvardiol, Senesi, Burn, Munoz, Lacroix, Guehi/Richards, Andersen, Diouf, Gudmundsson/Rodon (4.0), Alderete/Mukiele (4.0)

Midfielders: Semenyo, Saka, Ndiaye, Sarr, Enzo, Gordon, Paqueta, Rice, Minteh, Reijnders, Grealish(can’t play GW8), Kudus/Xavi, Caicedo, Xhaka, Stach, Anthony(if fit), King (4.5)

Forwards: Haaland, Gyokeres, Joao Pedro, Woltemade, Bowen, Mateta, DCL

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FPL GW8 Wildcard Drafts

FPL GW8 Wildcard Draft 1 with GW9 Bench Boost Plan

Goal Keepers:

Nick Pope and Dubravka take up the GK positions. Pope comes in at just 5.1 million compared to the 5.7 million you will be paying for Raya/Donnarumma. Newcastle’s defense has been really good this season, as suggested by their numbers – 2nd least in the league for xGC, Big Chances Conceded, and Goals Conceded, and only behind Arsenal. Pope is the rare combination of Good clean sheet potential + Saves potential as he has racked up 19 saves this season- 5th Highest in the league.

Dubravka is the nailed starting 4.0 Keeper in the game and also has a good fixture in GW9 vs WOL(A), where you can play the Bench Boost if you still have it.

Defenders:

First up is the Defensive double up from Arsenal – Gabriel and Timber, who are looking like must-haves at the moment. Arsenal are arguably the best defensive side in the league at the moment. Arsenal have conceded only 3 goals and 5 Big Chances from 7 games so far, which is the least in the league.

Arsenal Defense Rank this season:

• xGC- 1st
• Big chances Conceded- 1st
• Goals Conceded – 1st
• Shots inside the box conceded- 1st

Gabriel has other routes to points as well, with 1 goal, 6 DEFCON points, and 5 Bonus Points this season. Timber, on the other hand, is the high upside pick with no DEFCON potential, but has been very attacking this season. He has been taking up good positions in attack and already has 2 goals, 2 assists this season.

Senesi is the no-brainer locked-in pick, having hit DEFCON in 6/7 games this season.

Top Defenders for DEFCON this Season:

Richards(4.5) is another Budget Defender who is good for Defensive Contributions this season, having achieved it 4 times in the last 5 games. Palace are always a good defensive unit, and there is clean sheet potential as well, as suggested by 3 clean sheets from 7 games so far.

Rodon(4.0) rounds up the defense as the Budget enabler and a good option to Bench Boost in GW9 vs WHU(H). Leeds are solid at home defensively this season. Rodon has also made 62 Defensive Contributions from 7 games so far, averaging close to 9 DEFCON/game.

Midfielders:

• Semenyo is the most obvious pick and is a must-own pick at the moment with 6 Goals, 3 Assists, and 66 Points so far this season.
• Saka is back from injury and also took the penalty in the GW6 win over West Ham, even when Gyokeres was on the pitch. Saka is still fairly low-owned at less than 10% ownership and could be a high upside pick considering the fixtures- FUL(A), CRY(H), BUR(A), SUN(A) in the next 4 games.
• Ismaila Sarr is a pick who has gone under the radar in FPL this season, mainly due to the 2 games he missed due to injury. He has 3 goals, 1 assist from 5 games so far this season, and his underlying data is also really good.

Sarr Rank among Midfielders(Per 90 Stats):

• Big Chances – 3rd
• xG – 1st
• xGI – 2nd
• Goals Scored – 2nd
• FPL Points – 2nd

• Gordon is back from his suspension and has played 66 and 69 minutes in the last 2 league games. With Newcastle having good upcoming fixtures, he could be a good differential to target. Even though Woltemade took the penalty, it is to be noted that Gordon was not on the pitch at that time. In the Champions League game, Gordon took both the penalties in the 4-0 win when both Gordon and Woltemade were on the pitch.
• Caicedo rounds up the midfield as the enabler pick and good fixtures coming up. He has 3 goals so far. Even though the goal returns are not sustainable, Caicedo is a DEFCON monster, having hit DEFCON threshold in 4/7 games so far and finishing on 11 DEFCON(1 short) in 2 other games. He, in fact, has the Highest Defensive Contributions among Midfielders this season.

Top Midfielders for Defensive Contributions this season:

Forwards:

• Haaland is the no-brainer first pick, having scored 9 goals, 1 assist, and 70 points from 7 games this season.

• Joao Pedro has blanked in the last 3 games, having registered just 2 shots in the last 4 games. There is frustration among FPL Managers who are considering selling him, but we do think he is still a good option due to these reasons:

✅Lack of Other Forward options
✅Good fixtures in the next 5 games- NFO(A), SUN(H), TOT(A), WOL(H), BUR(A)
✅Rest in International Break & Rest between GW8 & GW9 (Red card in CL)

• Dominic Calvert-Lewin (5.5) rounds up the Forwards. Yes, you read it right. He has been a troll for FPL managers over the past few seasons, but if you are on GW9 Bench Boost plan, it is not at all a bad Budget option to consider. Next 2 fixtures for Leeds are BUR(A) and WHU(H), and it can’t get better than this- Both Teams are ranked in the Bottom 3 for xGC and Goals Conceded this season.

GW9 Bench Boost Projection(without making any transfers):

GW9 Bench Boost Projection is from FPL Team. Do check them out for FPL Planning.

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FPL GW8 Wildcard Draft 2

• This draft has Raya + Burn over Pope + Gabriel.
• Woltemade makes this draft as the Newcastle cover over Gordon, having scored in all 3 home games for Newcastle so far. He has blanked only once in 4 games so far.
• Paqueta also comes into the draft for West Ham’s good fixture run as they play Leeds, Burnley and Brentford in 3 out of the next 4 games. Paqueta is on penalties, set pieces and also has decent DEFCON potential.
• Enzo Fernandez has 3 goals, 2 assists, and 41 points from 7 games this season, playing in a more advanced role with Palmer injured. Enzo also features in the Top 5 Players for Big Chances and Non-Penalty xG this season.

Top Players for Big Chances this Season:

FPL GW8 Wildcard Draft 3

• This is a draft for managers who want to go for slightly Differential(but high upside) options like Bowen, Mateta, Munoz.
• Declan Rice is another Differential option to consider outside the Template Arsenal Triple up. Declan Rice has returned in every Gameweek he has started this season!
  
  ✅GW1- Assist, 6 Points
  ✅GW2- Assist, 6 Points
  ✅GW3- DEFCON, 4 Points
  ✅GW5- 1 Bonus, 3 Points (No return, but Bonus)
  ✅GW6- Assist, DEFCON, 9 Points
  ✅GW7- Goal, 11 Points*

• Bowen has 3 goals so far this season. Even though West Ham have not been great this season, Bowen bring the Talisman, Manager change and good fixtures make him a good punt.

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL GW8

FPL GW8 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More
Top FPL Gameweek 8 Captain Picks Based on Analysis & Metrics
Premier League Players who will miss PL due to AFCON 2025
FPL GW8 Predicted Lineups, Injuries, & Press Conference Updates
FPL GW8 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups
DEFCON Analysis: Top Defenders for DCs, Best Opponents + More
FPL Gameweek 8 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold & Sell
FPL Gameweek 8 Wildcard – Position Wise Players to Target
FPL GW8 Wildcard Team – Tips, Players to Target and Best Drafts

Link to all our FPL GW8 blogs, including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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