'Incredible' Sancho plays crucial role at Dortmund - Favre

The teenage sensation has been one of his side's most productive stars and the coach is delighted to have him alongside Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer

Lucien Favre has been impressed by Jadon Sancho's dribbling skills and says he has taken on a "crucial role at a very young age" at .

The 18-year-old is one of Dortmund's top players this season and has emerged as one of 's most promising stars since he joined the German side from in 2017.

Sancho has scored six goals and set up seven more in his last 17 appearances as Favre's team sit top of the table, six points ahead of reigning champions .

The Swiss coach has been impressed by the England international so far and is happy to have him in the team, comparing him to his former star Raffael.

"He's incredibly good but I also had Reus and Raffael. The fact that Raffael never played in the Brazilian national team is a scandal for me," he told Bild. "But it's true, Sancho is playing a crucial role at a very young age. He's an incredible dribbler."

Sancho is Dortmund's third top scorer in the Bundesliga this season, with Paco Alcacer and Marco Reus on 12 and 11 goals respectively, much to Favre's delight.

"I know Marco well from Gladbach and I must say he has always been sensational," he said of the German winger. "He was able to put his mark on every match, especially when he plays in his favourite position in the middle.

"He's intelligent, he feels football. He does his job as captain very well. He's discreet but he everyone on and off of the pitch. He's outstanding.

He added of Alcacer: "[Thirteen goals] is incredible, I've never seen that before. When he comes on he almost always scores – his stats will be hard to beat. He doesn't just score goals, he scores important ones. It's an outstanding quota."

Dortmund return to Bundesliga action on January 19 when they face , who sit fourth in the table, while Bayern take on .

The two don’t meet again until the spring when Bayern host Dortmund at the Allianz Arena on April 6, as the hosts look to gain a measure of revenge for their 3-2 loss in the reverse earlier this season.