Kostas Tsimikas will be sure to not dawdle on the ball in a Liverpool shirt again after taking a cheeky slap from James Milner during the 3-0 victory against Norwich.

The Greece international is deputising for the injured Andy Robertson and enjoyed a positive start to the season down the left hand side at Carrow Road.

Captain on the day, Liverpool's midfield general bossed even his own teammates

Goals from Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah ensured the 2020 Premier League champions got their season off to the best possible start.

The 25-year-old will have been relieved to see the Reds maintain their clean sheet despite giving the ball away with a little over 20 minutes remaining.

Todd Cantwell duly fed Lukas Rupp, yet the midfielder blazed his shot way over the bar.

Perhaps keen to remind his less experienced colleague of his responsibilities, veteran Milner came over to Tsimikas and gave him a persuasive slap around the back of the neck.

Milner raced over after Tsimikas gave the ball away cheaply
And the 35-year-old literally got to grips with the Greece international

Fans were able to sell out Carrow Road for the first time in 18 months and the Canaries were also back in the Premier League having been relegated and then promoted again during the ensuing period.

It was party time inside the stadium for the Norwich faithful but for Liverpool it was a case of back to business, with Virgil Van Dijk in the starting XI ten months on from his anterior cruciate ligament injury and this was step one on their quest to winning back their title.

Klopp's men had relinquished the championship in disappointing fashion last season but a strong finish - where they won their last five games - secured Champions League football.