Ahead of Saturday's home encounter against bottom-side Livorno, the club issued a statement on behalf of parent company Italpetroli confirming they had received an "informal interest" for the takeover of the club, but added that no agreement had been reached nor any financial terms discussed.

Spalletti will be hoping the latest news will not affect his team as they attempt to cut the four-point deficit with league leaders Internazionale.

With five games remaining, the Giallorossi know they cannot make any mistakes if they wish to bring the league title back to the Italian capital for the first time since 2001.

"We have only one path to follow and that is to always win," said Spalletti in Friday´s press conference.

"There is only one way to approach it and it's to continue to win and believe it's possible to win the Scudetto.

"We have a gap that we must close and hence, we will have to do better than Inter, but unfortunately it will not depend on us."

Spalletti admitted his team have not been affected by the war of words between Inter and Roma this week over Francesco Totti.

The Roma captain was spotted swearing at referee Nicola Rizzoli after receiving a yellow card in last weekend's win at Udinese and Mancini argued that Totti should have been suspended.

Totti was handed a 1,000 euros fine but will be available to play against Livorno.

"Lots of people have intervened and a mountain has been created but fortunately the team has been able to handle it well," said Spalletti.

"The team has done well not to get involved in this matter, after all, Totti understood he had exaggerated and apologised to the referee, so everything had been cleared."

Roma go into the clash at the Stadio Olimpico as favourites having only lost once at home this season.

The Giallorossi will be hoping to recover Montenegrin forward Mirko Vucinic, who is doubtful having sprained his right ankle on Thursday.

Should Vucinic fail to recover, Alessandro Mancini will take his place in the starting XI.

Rivals Livorno make the journey to the Italian capital looking to avoid their third consecutive defeat.

Last weekend´s 2-1 loss to Cagliari saw the Leghorn-based club drop to the foot of the Serie A table, two points from safety.

Club coach Giancarlo Camolese has urged his players to forget that disappointment and concentrate on their next two matches against Roma and AC Milan.

"We knew it was tough from the moment I arrived," he said. "I am sorry as there were six months in which the team was back on track. I'm not saying we are back at the beginning but now we must overcome our disappointment quickly.

"We must fight until it´s still mathematically possible."

The Tuscan outfit have only managed six wins in 33 games while they have not won on the road since January 13, when they beat Torino 2-1.

The hosts will be without Matteo Ferrari, Marco Cassetti and Alberto Aquilani, who are all out injured.