Avoid favourites backed by team (8)
I believe the answer is:
sidestep
'avoid' is the definition.
(I know that sidestep is a more specific form of avoid)
'favourites backed by team' is the wordplay.
'favourites' becomes 'pets' ('pet' can be a synonym of 'favourite').
'backed' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'pets' backwards is 'step'.
'step' after 'side' is 'SIDESTEP'.
(Other definitions for sidestep that I've seen before include "Dodge (an issue?)" , "Dodge - circumvent" , "Shift to right or left" , "Find a way round" , "To avoid" .)